Carer accused of suffocating thief in Bristol suburb ‘not a vigilante’, jury told

A carer accused of killing a suspected burglar during a citizen’s arrest was “public-spirited” and not acting as a vigilante, a court has heard.

Nathan Smith, 38, is on trial for the manslaughter of Craig Wiltshire. The 43-year-old suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest when the defendant tackled him in the street and pinned him down.

Mr Wiltshire was suspected of being behind a string of burglaries and car break-ins in a suburb of Bristol.

Smith restrained Mr Wiltshire for 12 minutes before police arrived in the early hours of November 20, 2019, and for nine of those minutes he had his knee on his back.

The victim died in hospital from catastrophic brain damage two weeks later.

In CCTV footage of the incident, Mr Wiltshire can be heard telling Smith he cannot breathe.

He can also be heard groaning as he struggles to move and fill his lungs.

During his trial at Bristol Crown Court, Smith said he thought the victim was faking it, so that he would release him.

In his closing speech to the jury today (January 25), Smith’s barrister David Hughes said: “Nathan Smith did not go out as a vigilante to exact revenge or to mete out punishment.”

He described the arrest as a “public-spirited” act, adding Smith was described by witnesses as a valuable and decent member of the community.

“In his evidence he said the last two years have been the worst of his life, he was previously happy and now has regular visits to the doctor and has been prescribed antidepressants, and his general mood has been sad,” Mr Hughes said.

“You may conclude, and rightly so in my submission, that there are no winners from the events of the early hours of November 20, 2019.”

The prosecution allege insults directed at Mr Wiltshire by Smith, such as calling him “you f****** shit c***” are proof the defendant wanted to punish the alleged thief.

“A considerable amount of time has been has been devoted to the language used,” Mr Hughes said.

“The language is unpleasant, it’s abusive, but this was a highly charged, unique situation – (Smith) is dealing with a thief, a burglar or an attempted burglar and he wants to detain him until the police arrive to arrest him.”

Mr Hughes continued: “There were repeated references to ‘I can’t breath’ – one thing is clear, he (Mr Wiltshire) continues to struggle after saying I can’t breathe.”

He added several neighbours had come to assist, adding: “They would not have been required if Craig Wiltshire was no longer struggling because he couldn’t breathe.”

Mr Hughes pointed out two neighbours who had witnessed the struggle did not believe Smith had done anything unreasonable.

The jury have retired to consider their verdict.

Smith’s employer Michael Crooks is also seen in the CCTV footage adding his weight to Mr Wiltshire for a few minutes, while his son Ben Crooks is seen kicking the prone man twice.

They have both admitted a charge of common assault and were not charged with manslaughter.