Man Who Stabbed Burglar Guilty of Manslaughter (Big Barf!)

Times Online (London) ^ | September 11, 2002 | Steve Bird

[ArrogantBustard]

“In our view, the evidence clearly showed that Barry-Lee Hastings at all times acted in self-defence when attacked by an armed burglar who had a long history of burglary and violence and who was on the run from the police at the time of this incident.

Where does this (or anything else) say that Mr. Hastings has any kind of rap sheet? Please cite your source. If your source is this sentence quoted above, I think you have mis-read it.

Thanks,

AB

[maxwell]

If you check out the link, at the very end it says that Hastings got into some sh!t for running around with knives or something like that...

I didn't see anything about his wife trying to keep the kids away from him, however...

[TopQuark]

they used to say that an Englishman's home is his castle But under socialism no one has a castle, remember? And, besides, the burglar was probably from a poor family, and the society drove him to his "occupation." It's all the castle-owners' fault.

[walwyn]

The posting is a abridgement you need to look at the final paragraph of the original article. The BBC has more details about the stabbing.

If the Judge reckons Mr Hastings has had a poor deal he'll give a suspended sentence. But on the face of it I still reckon the Brits have a win/win situation here. One dead burglar and another one on the way to jail.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I think you're probably right. 12 stab wounds in the back sounds like more than a defensive move by Mr. Hastings. My gut feeling is, the crook got exactly what people of his sort deserve. The larger question for the court should be, if the bugler was a multiple felon and had gone armed with a blade or any other weapon, why was he not in the clink ?

[USA21]

bump

[ArrogantBustard]

Thanks. There's a check-box in the posting form, to indicate that the post is an excerpt. I wish the original poster had checked it.

The burglary and "causing actual bodily harm" seem to be real crimes. However, if I were by magic transported, as I now sit, to Britain, I too would probably be in trouble for carrying a knife. I still don't see this as a legitimate case of manslaughter.