Samurai sword killing man jailed

Thomas Roe was in a "violent rage" when he attacked the men

A father of four who stabbed a man to death with an 18in (46cm) samurai sword has been sent to jail for a minimum of 18 years.

Thomas Roe, 42, armed himself and ran outside his house believing an intruder had tried to rape his wife.

The man escaped, but Roe, of Coleridge Gardens, Lincoln, attacked and killed passer-by Carl Taylor, 24, and injured Dale Veitch, aged 29.

Roe was also found guilty of wounding at Lincoln Crown Court.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Michael Heath told Roe: "Carl Taylor was no angel but he was someone's son and brother and he did not deserve to die in the way he did.

"Not for the first time you produced a fearsome weapon and you continued to brandish it in the street even after the danger... had receded."

During the trial, the court heard the sword was kept in a pot behind Roe's front door because, he said, he was being abused by his neighbours.