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The Football News Thread 2020/21

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Happy to give them a go, less games the 'old guard' get the better although everytime I see referee promotions I fear Steve Martin has finally kissed the right arse.
 
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A police officer has been convicted of the manslaughter of the former professional footballer Dalian Atkinson, after firing an electric stun gun into him for 33 seconds and kicking him twice in the head as he lay on the ground.

PC Benjamin Monk of the West Mercia force, was convicted of the killing by a jury at Birmingham crown court.

Monk was accused of lying in court about his account, and of kicking and stamping on Atkinson’s head while he was barely conscious on the ground.

Monk is the first officer convicted of manslaughter during the course of his duties in over three decades

Atkinson was kicked with such force his blood was found in the laces of Monk’s police issue boots.


That last line makes the manslaughter charge look odd. So stunned him to the ground then kicked him twice in the head.
 
Intent for murder is usually an intent to kill or cause GBH isn’t it? That must be getting mighty close.
 
I have no clue but I feel if I had zapped someone and then as they lay on the floor barely awake I kicked them hard enough in the head to spray blood around and then they died, I doubt I would be up for manslaughter.
I presume the police duty and the fact he officially died from the 30 seconds of being shocked is what led to the manslaughter charge
 
It's fucking outrageous tbh. He's literally booted a barely conscious bloke to death, but somehow it's basically decided that he didn't mean to kill him?! Absolute scandal
 
I assume the CPS have gone with what they were confident of proving
 
Intent for murder is usually an intent to kill or cause GBH isn’t it? That must be getting mighty close.

Yes, for murder the prosecution has to prove that you intended to kill or to commit GBH. Presumably they didn't feel they had enough to prove the latter.

A manslaughter conviction has a maximum sentence that is the same as murder, so it leaves it to judicial discretion to consider the circumstances when sentencing. In a sense, that's better than taking the risk of relying on a jury to find that there's sufficient evidence to supporta murder charge.

I agree that it seems perverse, but the prosecution were presumably very confident of a manslaughter conviction and less so about proving what was necessary for murder.
 
So if someone is “not guilty” of murder, then they can’t be charged with manslaughter instead??
 
So if someone is “not guilty” of murder, then they can’t be charged with manslaughter instead??
I thought he was cleared of murder so presumably you can be found guilty of manslaughter though the initial charge was murder.
 
He was cleared of murder and convicted of manslaughter. Jury were given both options and decided that way.
 
He was cleared of murder and convicted of manslaughter. Jury were given both options and decided that way.
Well that makes sense. So there are two charges and he is not guilty - murder, guilty - manslaughter

Why do you often hear “there isn’t enough evidence to charge of murder”. Or what TT said regarding CPS. Why isn’t it normal to be charged of murder and then let the trial play out and if the Jury feel it’s only manslaughter then fine. Are there consequences of a “not guilty” murder trial?
 
Double jeopardy still exists (mostly) so yes, if you've been tried once for murder and found not guilty then you can't really be tried again for the same crime.
 
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