The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The family of a man who died after he was attacked with a metal pole, kicked and stamped on in a “vicious” attack, say they have been let down by the justice system.
Six teenagers were found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of Spalding man Warren Free (42) after a five-week trial at Lincoln Crown Court.
Warren died from a head injury after he challenged a gang of teenagers who were causing damage to a fence at the bottom of the garden at his home in Coronation Close, in the early hours of August 29 last year.
After the verdicts, Warren’s dad Bob said he felt there had been an “injustice” for his son, accusing the judge of delivering a “biased” summary of the case and failing to explain the law of joint enterprise to the jury.
He said: “The Crown Prosecution Service presented an honest and factual case based on the joint enterprise law.
“The attack on Warren was a violent assault lasting no longer than a few minutes where he suffered over 50 injuries.
“Warren’s death was caused by only one fatal blow that night but the defence fought the case that it was impossible to distinguish which individual inflicted that fatal blow.
“Under the joint enterprise law everyone involved in the attack can be held accountable.
“As a family we feel the defence based their case on lies and assumptions about Warren, devised by little knowledge about his past.
“All Warren intended to do that evening was scare them away to protect his property.
“As admitted by the children involved they did not run away, they took it upon themselves to attack as pack of wolves with gang mentality bringing Warren to the floor and attacking him using their feet, their fists and a metal pole – only stopping when Warren had passed out.
“One of them delivered that fatal blow, God only knows which one.
“We feel the judge’s summary of the case was biased and that the joint enterprise law was not properly explained to the jury in the closing questions.
“Unfortunately for the case, judge and jury seemed to lose sight of the joint enterprise law and instead embarked on the impossible task of finding out which assailant delivered the fatal blow, resulting in a verdict of not guilty.”
The verdicts have prompted a storm of criticism on social media, with an outpouring of support for Warren’s family.
