Youth cleared of OAP 'takeaway killing'

The trial at Cardiff Crown Court lasted over a week

A 16-year-old boy has been found not guilty of the robbery and manslaughter of a pensioner for his takeaway supper of pie and mushy peas.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was cleared of attacking 86-year-old William Chivers in a south Wales street as he was walking home from an evening's bingo.

Mr Chivers was returning from bingo

The jury had been told the youth grabbed Mr Chivers from behind and forcibly swung him around, causing him to bang his head first against a wall and then the ground as he fell.

The war veteran, who had lived alone after the death of his wife 26 years ago, died of blood poisoning at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport the month after he was attacked.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Mr Chivers had been returning to his home in the village of Swffryd, near Pontypool, after a night out at bingo in September last year.

The youth, who comes from Pontypool and was 15 at the time Mr Chivers was assaulted, had denied charges of manslaughter and robbery.

He told the court: "I am not that dishonest. I have done bad things but I am not thoroughly dishonest.

"I didn't rob Mr Chivers. I didn't do it. I had no reason to lie my way out of the problem."

Septicaemia

The prosecution had claimed it was the youth who had attacked the pensioner just 150 yards from his home.

Although he never left hospital after the attack, Mr Chivers was able to give police a statement which led to the youth's arrest. That statement was read out to the jury.

Mr Chivers said: "I stepped aside to let them past me but then I felt the bag being pulled.

"He pulled me around into the wall and then I fell to the ground. The boy pulled the bag off my wrist."

In addition to the injuries to his head, Mr Chivers injured his arm, hip and pelvis which left him unable to move and brought on the septicaemia.

Prosecutor Gregory Bull had claimed: "This was an act of senseless street violence by a young man who had nothing better to do than attack Mr Chivers to relieve him of his takeaway meal.

"Mr Chivers was a man of habit who would probably have known his attacker."

Mr Chivers died in hospital of blood poisoning

Mr Bull had tried to persuade the jury that the boy had been "aimlessly hanging about" in the village with two friends before the attack.

After knocking down the retired miner, the youth and two friends fled the scene, leaving the meal behind, Mr Bull said.

The two friends of the defendant had then lied to the police about the incident because the youth had threatened to "beat them up" if they spoke out, said Mr Bull.

A doctor who cared for the pensioner during his final weeks of life told the jury that his patient had never recovered his health following the assault at the centre of the case.

Pain

Dr David Sykes said: "Mr Chivers was a fit 86-year-old gentleman. He was living alone with a little help from family.

"But he could manage stairs, get into the bath alone and could get out and about on his own - just as he was on the day he was mugged.

"Following the attack he had pain in his hip and was immobile. The only problems he had were the result of that injury.

"He never really made much progress or regained his mobility. He was very poorly for the last four-to-six weeks of his life."

Started fire

As part of his defence, the youth admitted to five burglaries and asked for a further three to be taken in consideration.

He had also admitted he had been expelled from school after setting fire to a shed in the grounds.

The jury believed his account of events and returned a verdict of not guilty on the charges of manslaughter and robbery.

After the case the dead man's son, Anthony Chivers, said: "We would like to thank the police for the way they handled the investigation.

"But we are concerned that the killer is still at large.

"We thought that today would be the end of the nightmare."

"Right verdict"

The boy's father would only say: "It was the right verdict, end of story."

Detective Sergeant Dave Peart of Gwent Police said: "We are very disappointed especially after the amount of investigation into the case."

"There is still shock in the village that this man was the victim of mindless street violence.

"We can reassure the community that we will always be there for them."