Man who discovered brother dead weeks after assault feels robbed of chance to look attacker in the eye
A man who discovered his brother dead weeks after a horrific attack says he feels robbed of the chance to see if his teenage assailant felt remorse.
The decision was made as it was believed Tom's attendance could have caused "undue stress" to the young defendant. David, who had long-standing mental health issues and walked with a stick, found the boy on the roof of his garden shed after hearing a noise outside. Every week Tom ran errands for David and he had planned to do so the following day but on the morning of November 15, he could not get in touch with his brother.
However, despite at least one pathologist "insisting" it was linked to the assault, medical experts could not agree on the cause of David's death and the case began to unravel. The Crown Prosecution Service eventually took the painful decision to drop murder and manslaughter charges in favour of a single charge of causing grievous bodily harm without intent.
Instead, Tom said he had to read a report of what was said in court in the ECHO later on the day of the sentence, including the boy's mitigation. He said: "There was a lot of comments saying things like how he's doing. He was being a 'typical teenage tearaway' on the night and he 'is doing really well'.
Despite his heartbreak, Tom says he has been buoyed by the support of David's friends, many of who he met via the Liberty Church in Birkenhead town centre, and enjoys the happy memories of his vulnerable, yet kind brother. He said: "David had this philosophy; if he felt he had enough himself he wanted to share his good fortune and he did that. Like a random thing, by buying joints of meat for people and he would go down to Grange Road, and walk around outside of the market, and hand these things out to strangers if he felt they would benefit.
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