A British man has been jailed for killing a vandal during a citizen’s arrest — pinning him to the bottom by his neck in a case with eerie similarities to George Floyd’s demise.
Benjamin Hunt, 32, tackled stranger Christopher Walters, 25, in Longton in Could 2019 after recognizing him smashing his son’s automotive home windows with a sledgehammer, a court docket heard Friday, in response to the Stoke Sentinel.
The dad of two then pinned Walters to the bottom with the assistance of a piece colleague, Jonathan Hassall — who killed himself days earlier than his trial began, the outlet mentioned.
As Hassell held Walters’ decrease physique, Hunt held him “across the neck,” utilizing his physique weight to pin him down even when he stopped shifting and have become unconscious, Prosecutor Robert Worth advised Stafford Crown Courtroom.
Hunt was nonetheless on prime of the lifeless physique when police arrived 19 minutes after the preliminary emergency name, the court docket heard. Walters was pronounced lifeless later that day, with the reason for demise compression of the neck.
“When Mr. Walters stopped resisting, and when he was clearly unconscious, Mr. Hunt ought to have launched his maintain of Mr. Walters’ neck. He didn’t,” Worth advised the court docket.
“His actions at that time … grew to become extreme and illegal,” the prosecutor mentioned.
Hunt was sentenced to 3 years and two months in jail after admitting manslaughter, the Sentinel mentioned.
“He accepts he held on for too lengthy. He acknowledges that after Mr. Walters had misplaced consciousness, he ought to have let go,” his lawyer, Barry White, advised the court docket.
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