Father and son jailed for 'vigilante' murder in Bury St Edmunds
After seeing a thief trying car doors in their housing estate
Last updated 25th Apr 2023
A father and son who murdered a thief who had been trying car doors around their housing estate have been handed life sentences.
Tesco worker Edward King, 20, left his house with a two-foot-long sword after he saw on CCTV a person trying car doors and giving the thumbs up, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
His father David King, 56 - who worked for construction firm Morgan Sindall, armed himself with a dagger and left their home in Radnor Close, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, around a minute after his son.
Thief Neil Charles, 47, was fatally stabbed by the dagger, and sliced across the knee by the sword, in the early hours of June 20, 2021, prosecutor Richard Kelly said.
He described it as "vigilante behaviour" by the father and son, and "revenge or retaliation".
The prosecutor said that the pair had been "looking to exact violence upon a local thief".
Mr Charles died in hospital on June 22 2021.
Both defendants had denied murder, but were found guilty following an earlier trial.
Judge Martyn Levett sentenced David King, who inflicted the fatal wound, to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years, which he must serve before he can be considered for release.
He sentenced Edward King, who was just 18 at the time of the killing, to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years.
The judge said both men went out "with the intention of hunting down Mr Charles and at least causing him really serious harm".