Life sentence for Vauxhall street killing

Tuesday 31 October 2017

A 52-year-old who fatally stabbed his 73-year-old neighbour in Vauxhall Gardens with a long kitchen knife has been sentenced to life imprisonment, and will have to serve a minimum of six years.

The Royal Court heard that in October 2016 Michael Charles Brown stabbed John Stephen McCarthy 18 times. Brown pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

The Attorney General, Robert MacRae told the Court that Brown had been seriously assaulted in La Moye Prison in 2003 in a case of mistaken identity, resulting in a brain injury and some cognitive impairment.

The Court heard that three days before he fatally stabbed Mr McCarthy, Brown punched him following a disagreement over his daughter. On 21 October, Brown drank throughout the afternoon, before going to the Daily Globe, where several people who saw him said he looked agitated and frustrated.

The Court heard that he arrived home between 18:30 and 18:50 and noticed a light in Mr McCarthy's flat. At approximatively 19:15, he went to the flat and attacked his victim with a long kitchen knife when he answered the door. A man passing by saw Mr McCarthy stagger and collapse and alerted another driver to call an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Brown had returned to his flat and called 999. He told the operator he had stabbed someone, adding later "...because he abused and used my daughter, I went mad and stabbed him." He named Mr McCarthy as his victim and stated he just wanted "to hurt him so bad," adding he had been "boiling up" for months.

He admitted he had been drinking and "went ballistic," saying he put the knife in three or four times and wanted to do it again and again, but Mr McCarthy ran away.

When asked how he was feeling, Brown stated: "Shaky and scared, I want to do it again... I want to kill him."

Mr McCarthy was taken to A&E, but was confirmed to have died at 20:15. He had sustained 18 stab wounds to the left side of his torso, with the deepest injuries measuring 10cm. His left lung, heart and one of his coronary arteries were punctured and the injuries caused significant internal and external bleeding. 

The Attorney General said the Crown accepted that Brown was suffering "from such an abnormality of the mind that his mental responsibility was impaired," adding that the severe traumatic brain injury in 2003 had caused a personality disorder. He added that the injury had lowered Brown's moral judgment, but increased his impulsivity, adding that it was unlikely Brown would have killed without it.

Pictured: The Police in Vauxhall Street, the night after the killing.

Defending Brown, Advocate Julian Gollop said that a minimum sentence of 10 years was "inappropriate and unjustified," and urged the court to consider a sentence between six and eight years. He explained that Michael Brown was assaulted on his first day in prison, by inmates who thought he was someone else. He said: "No one was brought to justice for this serious assault and Mr Brown has been left to deal with consequences for the past 14 years."

Advocate Gollop told Court that Brown had difficulties in his personal relationships, because of his "very unstable existence." He added that the great irony was that since his assault in 2003, Brown "had lived a lifestyle of routine and stability," although he had to deal with disabilities "through no fault of his own." 

He said that the fact Brown hadn't washed his hands so as not to remove evidence showing a high level of cooperation. He stated that Brown had no intention to kill McCarthy, even though he had admitted so to the ambulance operator, saying Brown struggled to express himself. He said that the risk with a life sentence was that Brown would deteriorate and never get to be free again, adding that the system had already failed him once when he suffered his brain injury, and should try to help him now and ensure his rehabilitation.

Pictured: Michael Charles Brown suffered from a grave and criminal assault while at La Moye in 2003, which caused severe brain damage. 

The Court also heard from experts psychologists and psychiatrists. Dr Philip Joseph, a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at St. Charles Hospital in London, said that Brown's brain injury was untreatable and that the situation that had led to the killing could arise in the future. He added that the damage could get worse and that as a result Brown could become even more uncontrollable, concluding that as such Brown posed a "serious risk" to the public for a period that can't be determined.

Handing out the sentence, the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, who was sitting with Jurats Jerry Ramsden, Paul Nicolle, Jane Ronge, Pamela Pitman, Susie Marett-Crosby and Sylvia Milner said: "The Court accepts that the evidence before us is that this defendant has a low level of culpability as a result of the injuries he sustained in prison in 2003. The risk he present is such that the public must be protected on his release from custody. We consider life sentence is the only way of achieving that."

He however added that the Jurats couldn't reach a consensus on the limited period he should serve, but all agreed the Crown's conclusion of a minimum of 10 years was much too high. With four of the Jurats considering six years was enough, and two saying it should be five, taking in consideration the time already served, the Bailiff imposed a life sentence with a minimum of six years.