'Vigilante' father and son jailed for stabbing thief to death in Suffolk to appeal murder sentence

• Heather and Henry King spoke to ITV News Anglia's Tanya Mercer

The family of a father and son jailed for life for murdering a thief outside their home in a "vigilante" attack say they are to appeal their convictions and life sentences.

David King and his son Edward, 20, were convicted of killing Neil Charles with a 12cm stab wound to the chest in the early hours of 20 June 2021.

Mr Charles, 47, died at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge two days after the attack on the Moreton Hall estate in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

Police said the victim had been trying car and house door handles on the estate and had several previous convictions for theft and burglary.

During the 10-week murder trial at Ipswich Crown Court, both men denied intentionally killing Mr Charles, with David King maintaining he had disturbed him in the act of trying to break into his car and the victim had run onto his knife.

Prosecutor Richard Kelly described the father and son's actions as "vigilante behaviour" and said they had been “looking to exact violence upon a local thief”.

The trial heard Mr Charles - described by family as "loving, caring and kind" - was unarmed and was leaving the estate and his killers were armed with a special forces dagger and a 27-inch ninja sword.

But Heather and Henry King, the wife and brother of the convicted pair, insist the two never meant to kill Mr Charles and had gone out to protect their home and neighbours.

They told ITV News Anglia they would lodge an appeal against both the convictions and sentences.

Mrs King said: "They went out of the drive differently. My son turned right and my husband turned left. There was no chase. They weren't together. And it was not a joint attack.

"They're not vigilantes and they're not monsters. They literally went out to try and detain him if possible, and to scare him away."

Pressed on whether her husband regretted taking the knife out that morning, she replied: "Of course he does. But he took it out as a deterrent. And it was to scare him away."

She added: "It's just such a sad case for everyone concerned. My husband will be an old man by the time he serves the sentence.  

"And likewise, my son as well, who wasn't even there at the time. So I just live day-to-day. And I wish my days away. But we all live in the hope. It's all we have."

Henry, who said his brother was not on the scene when the main chest injury was inflicted, said: "The prosecution even said they accept there was no intent to kill. All they were trying to do was to protect me, my mum, our neighbours.

"The fact that [my father] called the police 38 seconds after the injury was sustained, that speaks for itself that he was not intent on causing harm and he definitely didn't want him to die."

What is the law? A lawyer explains

The law around self-defence, the protection of property and the prevention of crime is complicated and centres on whether the force used is reasonable and necessary.

Eleanor Scarlett, a lawyer who was not involved in the case, said: "You are not allowed to wander the streets with knives or offensive weapons on the off-chance that you are going to be under attack and that you would use those weapons to defend yourself.

"It becomes a defence if you are under attack and nearby there is a weapon and you grab it to defend yourself.

"What you can't do is arm yourself and just wander the streets, even if you are saying you are doing so in self-defence, because you are not under imminent attack.

"It is a criminal offence to carry a weapon in a public place."

When he jailed them in April, Judge Martyn Levett said he was sure both men "had left to hunt Charles down and punish him with violence", describing it as a "needless death".

He added both men went out “with the intention of hunting down Mr Charles and at least causing him really serious harm”.

He said a message thread indicated that the men thought they “needed the likes of Charles Bronson to bring justice back to the streets”.

Tesco worker Edward King was jailed for a minimum of 19 years, while David King, who worked for construction firm Morgan Sindall, was jailed for a minimum of 21 years.

Teaching assistant Linnet Booth, the sister of Mr Charles, said in a victim impact statement that he was a “kind and gentle person” who was “never aggressive and always one to retreat when he didn’t like a situation”.

She said he had been due to marry his fiance Michelle Jackson in August 2021.

“We know he took the wrong path in life but he wasn’t violent or aggressive and that night he was simply trying to get away,” said Ms Booth.

Suffolk Police said: "The facts of the case remain that an unarmed thief - who was leaving the estate - was killed by men armed with a special forces dagger and a 27-inch ninja sword.

"A jury convicted both David and Edward King of murder based on all the facts of the case."

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