Eastbourne nightclub killer found guilty.

[happypig]

I was hoping you would clear this up Edna. I don't know either of the lads personally although obviously like a lot of young people in Eastbourne I am friends with friends of both of them so don't take sides but have a close interest in what happened here.

I was always under the impression that to be convicted of murder you do have to have an intent to kill but you say that is not the case. I'm clearly not going to ask for your opinion on this specific case as you will not know the full details but can you answer a general question: If there was a fight between 2 blokes where both parties threw a dozen or so punches and one of the blokes died, is there likely to be a murder charge for that or are we more likely talking punches to a defenceless person to get that charge?

In conversation with a judge once, discussing when manslaughter becomes murder and he said that, in general, if someone is on the floor and you continue to hit/kick them, then it would be reasonable to assume that you don't want him to get up.
Two blokes fighting and one gets killed by an unlucky punch is more likely to be manslaughter.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Because he was unlucky to even be tried for Murder and not Manslaughter in the first place. It was not a clear-cut extremely malicious,pre meditated murder it was a fight in a club in which he took it to far and was(sounds horrible) unlucky! If you are out in Brighton tonight and are unlucky enough to be in the wrong place you will see the same or a lot worse than that eve in eastbourne!

I don't know the details of this case any more than anyone else, and you clearly have a vested interest anyway, but I would question how it can be considered unlucky...I can't say I've ever punched anyone in a club, let alone several times, and thus haven't killed anyone. Am I lucky or just normal? It's violent behaviour whichever way you look at it, and the law states quite clearly that if you act in such a way, you have to face the consequences, whether that person dies or walks away as a result. The facts are that this bloke was seen to hit the other guy more than once, ergo he was intending to harm him. If he hadn't done, nobody would have died.

I'm sure if you were an associate of the victim rather than the offender you'd think differently.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I was hoping you would clear this up Edna. I don't know either of the lads personally although obviously like a lot of young people in Eastbourne I am friends with friends of both of them so don't take sides but have a close interest in what happened here.

I was always under the impression that to be convicted of murder you do have to have an intent to kill but you say that is not the case. I'm clearly not going to ask for your opinion on this specific case as you will not know the full details but can you answer a general question: If there was a fight between 2 blokes where both parties threw a dozen or so punches and one of the blokes died, is there likely to be a murder charge for that or are we more likely talking punches to a defenceless person to get that charge?

Hmmm, a tough one, and as I'm not a CPS lawyer, one I probably can't answer with great certainty. I think the perpetrator would still be arrested on suspicion of murder, in order to be interviewed & the evidence secured. I reckon they could quite probably still be charged with murder, but given that inevitably the accused would raise the self defence issue, the court might offer a manslaughter option to the jury. I think anyway. They could be charged with affray or something like that, but if you have a grieving family to face, it's hard to justify nobody facing direct criminal responsibility for the death, hence I'd have a punt that the more serious charges would follow, and let the court decide.

 

[patchamalbion]

I don't know the details of this case any more than anyone else, and you clearly have a vested interest anyway, but I would question how it can be considered unlucky...I can't say I've ever punched anyone in a club, let alone several times, and thus haven't killed anyone. Am I lucky or just normal? It's violent behaviour whichever way you look at it, and the law states quite clearly that if you act in such a way, you have to face the consequences, whether that person dies or walks away as a result. The facts are that this bloke was seen to hit the other guy more than once, ergo he was intending to harm him. If he hadn't done, nobody would have died.

I'm sure if you were an associate of the victim rather than the offender you'd think differently.

i am not an associate to either party but do have an interest,il leave it at that! i agree that he acted violently and must pay the consequences but im looking at it from more of a legal viewpoint and i,like many feel that the sentence passed today is on the harsh side! maybe discuss further on another day,im out