By Lucy Caulkett-
A father and son have been found guilty of the murder of a thief in a vigilante killing.
The violent father and son took the law into their own hands when killing a notorious criminal, who had a number of previous convictions for theft and burglar.
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He had been trying car door and house handles in Bury St Edmunds on the night he was fatally stabbed, Suffolk Police said. The 47-year-old was found wounded on June 20 last year and died in hospital on June 22.
David King and his 19-year-old son Edward King went into a rage and murdered Neil Charles, after seeing him trying car door and house handles in Bury St Edmunds in June last year.
Charles was stabbed on 20 June and died two days later in hospital. A pathologist found he had a 12cm stab wound to his chest.
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Jurors heard that officers had found David King in Winsford Road, some way from his home, and Charles further along the road. David King had a double-edged knife, resembling a dagger, and his son had a 27in ninja sword, when they killed the victim who was heading away from the property at the time he was attacked.
David rang police at 3.55am, saying that a man had been trying to steal from his car on the Moreton Hall estate in the Suffolk town.
The 55-year-old told call handlers that he had tried to stop Charles, who had run off, and admitted he had a knife in his hand and had injured the thief before he fled. He told a jury that Charles had run into his knife. Both men denied intentionally killing Charles.
Hunt
However, Ipswich crown court heard that they had been out with weapons to hunt down Charles in an act of vigilantism, and had not called police to investigate after spotting a thief on CCTV.
The father’s knife was used to kill Charles, with Edward’s sword causing a horizontal wound above the 47-year-old’s left knee. It was also used to slash Charles’s bicycle tyre.
David King was arrested at the scene and his son Edward later that day.
Text messages read out during the trial showed that they had a “fascination” with weapons, and discussed a desire to deal with any perceived criminals themselves after a spate of thefts locally.
The knife was used to inflict the fatal wound and the sword caused a horizontal wound above the left knee of Mr Charles, police said.
The sword was also used to stab the tyre of Mr Charles’s pushbike, which he left at the scene.
Mr Charles was some distance from the King’s property and was heading away from it when they caught up with him and the fatal blow was delivered, Suffolk Police said.
The force said that analysis of both men’s text message history revealed they had a fascination with weapons and, following previous thefts in the area, a clear intent and desire to deal with any perceived criminals themselves.
During the trial both men denied intentionally killing Mr Charles, with David King maintaining his version of events that he had disturbed Mr Charles in the act of trying to break into his car and that Mr Charles had run onto his knife.
However, the prosecution said the father and son had gone out together to hunt down and attack Mr Charles in an act of vigilantism.
David and Edward King were on Monday found guilty of murder by unanimous verdicts.
They have been remanded in custody to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
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