Murder victim's mum is against law change
Alex Gore • Published 21 Jan 2012 12:00
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Robert 'Junior' Spence, 17, was stabbed to death in St Mary's Butts in 2008
THE heartbroken mum of a teenager stabbed to death after being attacked by a group of men in Reading town centre has slammed proposed changes to the law for gang-related cases.
Sandra Blake, whose 17-year-old son, Robert 'Junior' Spence, was killed in St Mary's Butts on May 2, 2008, was responding to a House of Commons select committee's calls for changes to the legal principle of joint enterprise - which allows a group of people to be found guilty of murder even if only one of them dealt the fatal blow.
In 2009 at Reading Crown Court, three Bristol men, Nicholas Olu, Leon Wilson and David Brooks, were found guilty of Junior's murder. Key CCTV footage showed Olu repeatedly stabbing the youngster and Judge Zoe Smith told the jury the defendants would be guilty through joint enterprise if they entered the fight knowing one of their group was carrying a knife with intent to murder.
Sandra said she would be against any changes, and added: "As far as I am concerned, anyone who was there is guilty. They did not phone the police and they did not try to stop it from happening. For people to stand there watching is as bad as doing the stabbing."
The three men were also convicted of the attempted murder of Junior's friend, Emmanuel Connor. Olu and Wilson, were told they must serve at least 20 years in jail and Brooks was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years.
Advocates of a change argue the legal principle is too complex for jurors to understand. The committee said this week it can also deter witnesses from coming forward - out of fear that they will find themselves in the dock - and unnecessarily bring young people, who are on the edge of gang-related activity, into the criminal justice system.
The MPs have called for a new, less complex law on gang-related killings was needed and in the meantime, the director of public prosecutions has agreed to issue guidelines on the level of involvement needed for a murder charge.
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 19 Jan 12
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