Diplomat cleared of killing mugger

Jairo Soto-Mendoza claimed self-defence

A Colombian diplomat has been found not guilty of murdering a mugger who robbed his son.

Jairo Soto-Mendoza, 44, wept as the jury returned their verdict after four days of deliberations.

The dead man's relatives screamed from the public gallery as he was cleared of manslaughter as well.

The sergeant major was accused of picking up a knife, tracking down and murdering Damian Broom, 23, in a rage after hearing his son had been attacked.

During the trial Mr Soto-Mendoza claimed he was only trying to overpower Mr Broom when he confronted him near a Tesco store in Greenford, west London, on 21 May last year.

Mr Broom, a father-of-one from East Acton, west London, received a stab wound to the chest and died in hospital an hour later.

We did not reach the necessary standard of proof Detective Superintendent Ian West Blair intervened to get diplomat to trial

The secretary to the military attaché to the Colombian Embassy in London, denied the charges.

He told the Old Bailey it was Mr Broom who had the knife and was hiding behind bushes when he and his son approached.

Father-of-three Mr Soto-Mendoza said he had to defend himself using his elite Special Forces training.

"Everything happened in a second," he told the court.

Damian Broom was a father-of-one

"I was more concerned with my son's safety and my own because he had a knife. It was instinctive."

He said Mr Broom charged towards them with a knife but he managed to turn his hands around and point the knife towards him.

Mr Soto-Mendoza said he rocked Mr Broom from side to side to break his balance and then "pushed him onto the floor in order to buy time".

"I was telling my son to run because the guy had a weapon," he added.

The prosecution alleged Mr Soto-Mendoza had acted in "anger and retaliation" after his 21-year-old son was robbed by two men.

Mr Soto-Mendoza regrets the death of the young man, albeit a professional robber, who had just robbed his own son Mr Soto-Mendoza's solicitor Richard Harbord

Outside the court, Mr Broom's stepmother Vander described the 23-year-old as a "very nice kid".

Mr Soto-Mendoza said in court he was covered by diplomatic immunity at the time but said he was forbidden to carry weapons by diplomatic rules.

He and his son went to a local police station the next day and reported the robbery.

His diplomatic immunity was later waived as police investigated the death and made representations to his embassy.

Detective Superintendent Ian West said after the trial: "We did not reach the necessary standard of proof."

Mr Soto-Mendoza's solicitor Richard Harbord said his client had acted in self-defence and he was happy that the Colombian government waived his right to diplomatic immunity "so he could defend himself in court".

"Mr Soto-Mendoza regrets the death of the young man, albeit a professional robber, who had just robbed his own son," he added.