Man who killed in self defence cleared of all charges
DavidT
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Thought this local to me case may be interesting as it seems to have similar parallels to the recent Hussain case in that both involved the "victim" chasing after the would be attackers resulting in the death of one of them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8564807.stm
http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/Curt-Rothery-guilty-murdering-Luke-Alexander/article-1908895-detail/article.html
Obviously the cases are not identical but it is interesting that in this case the defendant was cleared of all charges even though the jury had the chance of convicting him of a lesser charge.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8564807.stm
http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/Curt-Rothery-guilty-murdering-Luke-Alexander/article-1908895-detail/article.html
Obviously the cases are not identical but it is interesting that in this case the defendant was cleared of all charges even though the jury had the chance of convicting him of a lesser charge.
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i love how the CPS wanted the defendant done on a "murder" charge though, when he was minding his own business at home.
best result all round i'd say
Why would that be?
Should have trained the little lowlife not to break into other people's property then.
The police normally prefer that innocent householders assume punchbag duties. It was ever thus.
Great result though. Just shows that some juries do have the rights of the householder in mind, and take into account the fact that it is they who have been dragged into a vile situation through no fault of their own.
Again, brilliant result :cool:
Nonsense, but expected.
This doesn't appear to be a burglary case in the accepted sense, and we know nothing at all about the background to this.
Perhaps the Police, having investigated it thoroughly, saw more to it, hence the charges.
Saying the householder is always right does not account for the Noye case.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/news/Revenge-killing-twins-broke-flat/article-1887331-detail/article.html
http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/South-Molton-murder-trial-begins/article-1885683-detail/article.html
http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/Revenge-killing-twins-broke-flat/article-1887331-detail/article.html
Luke then screamed for the boys to flee once Rothery had picked up two large kitchen knives, the court was told.
Giving evidence, Mark Alexander said the boys picked up the sticks "just to play around." Luke had dropped his stick before the chase began although Mark was still waving the sticks in Rothery's direction.
Mark said: "When I turned round, Luke had fallen over.
"I saw Bruno punching and kicking him. He was shouting: 'How dare you come into my house, you've got to learn'.
"Luke was trying to protect himself with his arms. He then shouted: 'Don't mate, don't use that'."
Rothery then punched Mark before stabbing him in the flank, the prosecution said. Mark later needed surgery for a wound.
He chased them out of his house and the rest of the fight took place in the street.
"He chased the Alexanders up the street and carried out a revenge attack on them with the two knives because they had barged into his room."
Your side, towards the back.
This might explain it:-
Women have been acquitted of murdering their sleeping partners, on the grounds they were in fear for their safety, so I don't see how killing a wide awake person, from whom you are in fear for your safey, shouldn't be covered by the same defence.
Either that, or some/all of the jury had been victims of burglary or violence, and felt the deceased had brought it on himself.
Yes, but they had run out of his flat and he chased them down the road with two knives and then punched and stabbed the one who had fallen over, shouting 'How dare you come into my house, you've got to learn'.
I see that as an act of revenge, not fear.
The problem though, is that media reports cannot show what evidence was put to the jury, nor how the "victims" of the case same across as witnesses.
As the jury were given more than 1 charge to deliberate on, and found the defendant not guilty on all charges, they must have decided that those witnesses werent believable, but again, we can only base this on the verdict given.
The jury heard all the evidence, we havent, so speculating what was in this blokes mind is simply that, speculation.
the thing is, if my brother got stabbed whilst we had deliberately armed ourselves with the intent to break into a flat and assault the homeowner, i might also be tempted to paint my brother (whom i love, naturally) in a sympathetic light.
i too would probably attempt to portray him as the victim. i might throw in a couple of "he begged for his life" type nuggets too. completely natural.
good that the jury saw through that shit though
And the women I'm talking about, stabbed their partners to death while they slept.
If those cases qualify as self defence, so does this one.
I think the CCTV footage was what made the police believe them. And of course there may be more to it... but the verdict seems odd to me given the information available.
Cobblers, but expected.
They were in his property and threatening him. He gave chase in the heat of them moment, and one of the little scrotes paid with his life.
By going for a prosecution and now saying they are disappointed by the result, sends out exactly the message the public have got used to from the police ~ that they are more in favour of the scumbags than the law abiding.
He was found not guilty by a legal jury. How typically arrogant of the police to express disappointment.
Jesus Christ almighty. Now wonder we have no trust or faith in them. They prove just what they think of the law abiding citizen defending themselves :mad:
For me, a woman who has suffered years of abuse is very different to a man who is afraid after some people burst into his room and who then ran away.
Had he stabbed the man in his room I would agree that it would likely be self defence, but chasing them down the street and then stabbing a man laying on the floor after he tripped just doesn't seem to fit the scenario you describe. At that point, what was he afraid of?
What he should have done, after they had run away, was call the police.
It could be that he's not generally the Law Abiding sort. He may be someone the police (and others) would be happy to see off the street.
easy to suggest whilst calmly sat at your PC. in the heat of the incident, when the adrenaline is going due to fear of three blokes looking to tw*t you with sticks, a different matter.
i think that some members of the police or crown prosecution service should have to undergo some kind of extreme stress simulations as part of their training.
perhaps a weekend down at hereford in the killing house, having members of the SAS burst in and try to get them, get their own juices going a bit to try and gain some empathy for how people might react when stressed, scared or in fight/flight mode
By the facts available here it would appear to be stupid behaviour of drunken young men that's ended in tragedy.
He was not defending himself when the guy was killed. So I don't see how it can be self-defence.
And I don't need any lessons in what it means to be attacked either, I have sadly had more than enough experience - including what it feels like to use a knife to defend myself.
How is it different?
At the moment of killing her partner, he poses no threat to her. She could simply let herself out of the house, and make her escape, instead of killing a defenceless sleeping man.
Likewise the woman stabbing her sleeping partner. At that point, what was she afraid of?
And so should the women who stabbed their sleeping partners. All they had to do was open the door, and go to the police.
The man, in this case, killed a conscious person in the heat of the event. Those women killed sleeping people, in cold blood.
Good idea. Can I lob in a couple of flash-bangs?
BTW. Stirling Lines is at Credenhill, not Hereford.
he was likely still pumped up on adrenaline, tends to happen when you're afraid. try cornering a dog and it will come at you even as you back off, it's a survival instinct.
i wasn't suggesting you either, i have read about the violence you suffered at the hands of an ex-partner.
some people though, who have never experienced fear or assault ought to get some conditioning instead of pontificating and trying to bring people down who hit out in defence, or, in immediate retribution whilst still wired because of the attack