A woman has been jailed for life for murdering her husband after she was faced with losing their £170,000 family home during a marriage break-up.
Maria Boyne, 30, stabbed her 41-year-old husband Graham 31 times at their home in Barnehurst, south-east London.
An Old Bailey jury found Boyne guilty of murder. Her lover, Gary McGinley, 24, whom she tried to frame for the killing, was cleared of murder.
Boyne was told she would serve a minimum sentence of 24 years.[From BBC NEWS | England | London | Woman jailed for husband's murder]
Mar
09
Mar
09
A “self appointed vigilante” has been jailed for 10 years for killing a former policeman who had been charged with possessing child pornography.
Daniel Williams, 30, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Geoffrey Harries, 49, after stabbing him 20 times outside his Carmarthenshire home.
He claimed self-defence at Swansea Crown Court after being attacked.
But the judge said he could expect “severe punishment” if carrying a knife on the streets resulted in a death.
Williams lived seven doors away from his victim in Trimsaran in June 2008.
He was cleared of murdering Mr Harries on Friday at Swansea Crown Court, claiming he acted in self-defence.
Williams, who had denied murdering Mr Harries, had told the jury he believed the former policeman was going to kill him.
He said he had been trying to leave the scene in Dythel Park after using a 7in combat knife to puncture a tyre on Mr Harries’s car.
He said the ex-policeman ran after him and attacked him. His defence in court was that he struck out in self defence without realising he was still holding the knife.
Sentencing Williams, Mr Justice Flaux said: “If you carry a knife on the streets you must expect severe punishment if that knife is used to cause the death of someone.”
He added: “You set yourself up as some sort of self-proclaimed vigilante.”
He went on to say that it was clear from the evidence that “some form of verbal altercation” had also taken place between him and Mr Harries in the street.
Justice Flaux told the court that he had read a “deeply affecting” victim impact statement written by Elizabeth Harries, the widow of the former policeman.
He also told Williams that, in passing sentence, he had to have in mind “the devastating effect that your action has had on the family of Mr Harries”.
Indecent images
Williams told the jury Mr Harries had hit him, pinned him to the ground and had his forearm on his throat.
He said he then tried to hit Mr Harries but had no intention of doing anything to him.
After Mr Harries jumped off him, Williams told the jury he sprinted away.
The court heard Williams had previously slashed a tyre on Harries’s car and poured brake fluid over the bonnet.
The prosecution claimed that Williams was angry after hearing that the former Pc was awaiting trial accused of having 2,082 indecent images of children.
Mr Harries and his wife had moved from Pembrey to live with his mother in Dythel Park, but the trial heard neighbours were unhappy about his presence.
The jury reached a majority verdict of 10-2 on the manslaughter charge on Monday.[From BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Ex-Pc's killer 'like a vigilante']
Mar
05
A “self appointed vigilante” has been jailed for 10 years for killing a former policeman who had been charged with possessing child pornography.
Daniel Williams, 30, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Geoffrey Harries, 49, after stabbing him 20 times outside his Carmarthenshire home.
He claimed self-defence at Swansea Crown Court after being attacked.
But the judge said he could expect “severe punishment” if carrying a knife on the streets resulted in a death.
Williams lived seven doors away from his victim in Trimsaran in June 2008.
He was cleared of murdering Mr Harries on Friday at Swansea Crown Court, claiming he acted in self-defence.
Williams, who had denied murdering Mr Harries, had told the jury he believed the former policeman was going to kill him.
He said he had been trying to leave the scene in Dythel Park after using a 7in combat knife to puncture a tyre on Mr Harries’s car.
He said the ex-policeman ran after him and attacked him. His defence in court was that he struck out in self defence without realising he was still holding the knife.
Sentencing Williams, Mr Justice Flaux said: “If you carry a knife on the streets you must expect severe punishment if that knife is used to cause the death of someone.”
He added: “You set yourself up as some sort of self-proclaimed vigilante.”
He went on to say that it was clear from the evidence that “some form of verbal altercation” had also taken place between him and Mr Harries in the street.
Justice Flaux told the court that he had read a “deeply affecting” victim impact statement written by Elizabeth Harries, the widow of the former policeman.
He also told Williams that, in passing sentence, he had to have in mind “the devastating effect that your action has had on the family of Mr Harries”.
Indecent images
Williams told the jury Mr Harries had hit him, pinned him to the ground and had his forearm on his throat.
He said he then tried to hit Mr Harries but had no intention of doing anything to him.
After Mr Harries jumped off him, Williams told the jury he sprinted away.
The court heard Williams had previously slashed a tyre on Harries’s car and poured brake fluid over the bonnet.
The prosecution claimed that Williams was angry after hearing that the former Pc was awaiting trial accused of having 2,082 indecent images of children.
Mr Harries and his wife had moved from Pembrey to live with his mother in Dythel Park, but the trial heard neighbours were unhappy about his presence.
The jury reached a majority verdict of 10-2 on the manslaughter charge on Monday.[From BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Ex-Pc's killer 'like a vigilante']
Mar
05
A man who killed a woman while wearing a “Phantom of the Opera” mask has been sent to a mental hospital indefinitely.
Rafi Ullah, 29, donned the mask and wig when he attacked receptionist Sehrish Waqar Sheikh, the Old Bailey heard.
Miss Sheikh was stabbed in the chest and neck at St George’s International College office in Plaistow, east London, in September last year.
Ullah, of Wembley, north-west London, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Psychotic depression
Ullah had become obsessed with Miss Sheikh and decided she must die after she rejected him, the court had heard.
After police arrived at the scene Ullah tried to cut his own throat.At the moment you pose a threat to any woman who shows kindness to you
Judge Jeremy Roberts
Miss Sheikh’s body had 65 stab wounds.
Ullah, of Jesmond Avenue, Wembley, north London, also pleaded guilty to wounding pregnant college administrator Kiran Asgha, 22, who was stabbed in the shoulder.
The court was told that Ullah, a Pakistani who came to Britain on a student visa in 2006, was suffering from long-term psychotic depression during the incident.The victim was stabbed in the chest and neck
Sir Desmond de Silva QC, defending, said: “It is always tragic when a killing takes place as the result of what is sometimes called the Othello syndrome.
“In this case, the defendant travelled on a bus with the executioner’s mask to kill the object of his insane jealousy.”
Judge Jeremy Roberts told Ullah: “At the moment you pose a threat to any woman who shows kindness to you, to be nice to you as Miss Sheikh was. You became fixated with her.”
Miss Sheikh’s brother, Yasir, wrote a statement to the judge in which he said the “cold-blooded execution” had thrown his “average, hard-working family” into a nightmare.
“It felt like judgment day. It showed how it feels to be defeated by this heartless world,” he wrote.
‘Wanted her’
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said the pair had met when Miss Sheikh had been working at her brother’s mini-cab firm and he was delivering leaflets.
“If anything, she was kinder to him than anyone else in the office. It is that kindness which had such dire consequences,” he said.
“In interview, he admitted responsibility. He explained he had become obsessed with her and wished to die and could not allow her to live,” Mr Atkinson added.
On a note written to police, Ullah had written: “I love her very much but she does not treat me, even though I love her.”
He told an officer: “I could not have her and I was afraid she would have someone else. I wanted her at any cost.
“I came with the intention to kill her and to kill me.”[From BBC NEWS | England | London | 'Phantom' killer sent to hospital]
Mar
05
A woman has been jailed for life for murdering her husband after she was faced with losing their £170,000 family home during a marriage break-up.
Maria Boyne, 30, stabbed her 41-year-old husband Graham 31 times at their home in Barnehurst, south-east London.
An Old Bailey jury found Boyne guilty of murder. Her lover, Gary McGinley, 24, whom she tried to frame for the killing, was cleared of murder.
Boyne was told she would serve a minimum sentence of 24 years.[From BBC NEWS | England | London | Woman jailed for husband's murder]
Mar
05
A man has been found guilty of the murders of two teenagers in County Armagh nine years ago.
David McIlwaine, 18, and Andrew Robb, 19, were stabbed to death in February 2000 after leaving a disco. Their bodies were dumped near Tandragee.
Steven Leslie Brown, also known as Steven Revels, 28, of Castle Place, Castlecaulfield, had denied involvement.
The judge said they were two of the most serious murders he had dealt with.
At the end of his 93 page judgement, Mr Justice Gillen said that having watched Brown giving evidence, he had “no doubt whatsoever” that he had seen a man “whose hands had been engaged in the executions of these two young victims”.[From BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Man found guilty of double murder]
Mar
05
A man has been found guilty of the murders of two teenagers in County Armagh nine years ago.
David McIlwaine, 18, and Andrew Robb, 19, were stabbed to death in February 2000 after leaving a disco. Their bodies were dumped near Tandragee.
Steven Leslie Brown, also known as Steven Revels, 28, of Castle Place, Castlecaulfield, had denied involvement.
The judge said they were two of the most serious murders he had dealt with.
At the end of his 93 page judgement, Mr Justice Gillen said that having watched Brown giving evidence, he had “no doubt whatsoever” that he had seen a man “whose hands had been engaged in the executions of these two young victims”.[From BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Man found guilty of double murder]
Mar
04
Evidently this man had more in mind than I would, He stabbed him 20 thats TWENTY or 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 times I think that is more than just self defense. Its almost as if the courts are suggesting that Williams was justified in his actions because of the images on Harries computer. Child Porn is utterly wrong, and should be strongly punished, more than is done even, but it in no ways is justification for the public to act out. There should never be any insinuation that it is OK, either.
__________
Just hours before an altercation in which a former policeman would be killed, Daniel Williams was drinking at a pub.
A row developed with officers when Williams’ brother Chad was arrested for drink driving.
While walking back to his home in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire, 30-year-old Williams decided to slash Geoffrey Harries’ tyres to let him know he was not welcome in the community.
Mr Harries, who had served with Dyfed-Powys Police but had left the force, was due in court accused of having 2,082 indecent images of children.
Swansea Crown Court was told Williams had previously slashed a tyre on Geoffrey Harries’ van and poured brake fluid over the bonnet.
From the time Mr Harries and his wife moved in to his mother’s house at Dythel Park some neighbours had been unhappy about his presence.
The Harrieses moved there from their own home in Pembrey because of “hostile incidents” after his arrest.
Williams, who has been cleared of Mr Harries’ murder but found guilty of manslaughter, lived just seven doors away in Trimsaran.
On 6 June last year he had been drinking with his brother Chad at the Bird in Hand pub.
They were stopped as they were leaving and his brother arrested for drink driving.
Williams denied making threats about Mr Harries but admitted in court that he intended to slash his tyres.
A patrol car was sent to the estate to keep watch on Mr Harries’ house but left after 30 minutes when it “seemed quiet and calm”.
Mr Harries’ wife Elizabeth was to tell the jury in the early hours of the following day, she and her husband saw a man crouching behind a van outside their home and suspected he was trying to slash their tyres.
Mr Harries went to investigate and she followed moments later.
Mrs Harries said she could not see the identity of the man as he was wearing a hood.
“Geoff was saying ‘I haven’t done anything. I would never do anything like that’. He was saying it in a pleading tone,” she told the jury.
“I shouted ‘Can’t you leave us alone. He hasn’t done anything to anybody’.
“The man ran off and a street light reflected on something metallic.
“My husband turned to face me and said ‘I have been stabbed’. He was stumbling and staggering. He collapsed in my arms.”
Mrs Harries told how she tried to stem the bleeding but with little success.
Williams had taken a combat knife from his home, the court heard, but said he had no intention of doing anything to Mr Harries himself.
Williams told the jury he was acting in self defence because Mr Harries had hit him and pinned him to the ground.
“He was massive on top of me and I couldn’t breathe. He had his right forearm on my throat, pushing all his weight down,” Williams told the court.
“I thought he was going to kill me. I couldn’t move.”
Williams said that he tried to hit Mr Harries.
“He jumped up off me. I stood up, facing each other. I didn’t get to see how he looked or what he was wearing,” he said.
“I sprinted off as fast as I could to get away from him.”
Mr Harries was taken to West Wales General Hospital, Carmarthen, and later transferred to Morriston Hospital, Swansea, where he died.
Doctors found he had suffered 20 stab wounds, including a fatal injury to his back which penetrated his right lung.
The court was told Williams had “a long-standing fascination with military equipment and knives” and the jury was shown a 6in (15cm) combat knife bought by the defendant.
When Williams went to the house that night he was dressed in a black hooded top and possibly a black balaclava and gloves.
At first he denied any involvement in the killing until police found Mr Harries’ blood on his boots, jeans and hooded top.
He then said he had acted in self defence.
[From BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Killer had knife to 'slash tyres']
Feb
26
A woman jailed for trying to flee the witness box, while giving evidence against a man she claimed raped her, has called for the judge to be sacked.
Ann Robertson, 43, was remanded by Roger Craik QC during the case against George Cummings at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.
She was arrested and taken to police cells overnight after failing to deliver her testimony.
Ms Robertson made a complaint about the temporary judge to the Crown Office.
The trial resulted in George Cummings, from Grangemouth, near Falkirk, being found guilty of abusing two young girls during the 1970s.
However, the charge of raping Ms Robertson was dropped.
[From BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Rape witness in cell ordeal anger]
Feb
22
The journalist seems to propose that the illiteracy of the boy is justification or mitigates the murder. I think everyone knows that murder is wrong. Hopefully he will learn to read in prison but most likely he will learn how to be a better criminal and get out at 37 with plenty of life to commit more crimes.
______________________
An illiterate teenager who was convicted of stabbing a boy to death at a house party in Manchester has been given a life sentence.
Shane Boyd, 16, will serve at least 11 years for murdering Conor Black in an argument over a Xbox games console.
Conor, also aged 16, collapsed and died minutes after being stabbed outside the house in Moston last August.
Boyd, who boasted that he was “the man” after the attack, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court last month.
Judge Clement Goldstone QC sentenced him to life, to serve a minimum of 11 years before he can be considered for parole.[From BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Xbox row killer jailed for life]
