Life imprisonment for father and son who killed a thief using a WWII dagger and samurai sword.

A father who killed a burglar outside his home previously posted a photo of the vigilante played by Charles Bronson in the Death Wish movies to a neighborhood group with the comment, “This is who we need.”

David King, 56, confronted Neil Charles with a World War II dagger, while his son Edward, 20, wielded a Ninja sword after they spotted him on CCTV watching their neighborhood.

Two minutes after going outside their £550,000 home to deliver their ‘own form of justice’, Charles had been stabbed in the chest by David and hit on the knee by his son. He died in hospital two days later.

The pair were convicted of murder by acting in a joint venture after a trial and returned to court where they received life sentences, with David, a project manager in the construction industry, serving a minimum of 21 years and Edward serving at least 19 years before being incarcerated. were taken into consideration. for parole.

Judge Martyn Levett rejected claims that the defendants intended to lawfully detain Charles in a civilian arrest, telling them, “I am sure that on that occasion both of you wanted to track down the perpetrator and punish him by force.

“There was a lot of pre-meditation and planning.”

David King posted the photo of Deathwish anti-hero Paul Kersey on the WhatsApp group in June 2019 after the wheels of his wife’s BMW M3 were stolen.

In another message he sent to his wife at the time, he wrote, “Scum must die.”

Former business student Edward, who worked at Tesco, responded with reports that car thieves should be shot, their genitals cut off, drowned or suffocated before being killed.

He also drew a map of local houses in their newly built estate in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, which he thought were likely targets of thieves because of the luxury cars in their driveways.

At their trial, the prosecution said this indicated their desire for “retribution” or “an act of vigilante justice.”

Charles, 47, who had 66 previous convictions, appeared at the estate shortly before 1am on 20 June 2021 and was seen on CCTV trying the doors on the Kings’ cars.

A neighbor posted a message on the WhatsApp group at 1:14 a.m. saying someone had tried his car door and David King wrote, “Get it. Just been looking for him.’

Two hours later, Charles again tried the handle of a car in the Kings’ driveway outside their detached house and the defendants rushed out to confront him.

The career criminal was left with a 5 inch deep wound to his chest and the injury to his knee. He was so upset when he hammered on a nearby door for help that he shattered the glass.

David King’s knife was later found by police on a kitchen counter with DNA from his victim’s blood.

Edward King’s 27 inch ninja sword, which had a 19 inch blade, was in the drying cabinet.

Mr King’s snr was initially arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, claiming that Charles ran on his knife and told an officer, ‘He hit my hand with his bicycle. Then he ran towards me and I had a knife in my hand.’

Officers seized a large number of weapons from the house, including knives, brass knuckles, machetes and shotguns. David King was a licensed shotgun owner.

At the time, Edward was serving a 12-month referral warrant issued after he brandished a machete at an ex-girlfriend.

At the trial, prosecutor Richard Kelly KC said father and son “had for some time held a furious grudge against those who were stealing locally.”

The pair were unanimously convicted after last year’s 10-week trial.

Charles’ fiancée, Michelle Jackson, said in a victim impact statement read yesterday at Ipswich Crown Court that he was “loving, caring and kind and not aggressive at all.”

She added: “I’m glad justice has been done. Losing someone in an accident is one thing, but losing someone in a violent act is something I don’t wish on anyone.’

The victim’s sister, Lynnet Booth, added: ‘We know he chose the wrong path in life, but he was not violent or aggressive. That night he tried to get away.’

Kieran Vaughan KC, defending David King, said he and his son made the comments about criminals to ‘blow off steam’ rather than mean them as serious threats.

Nicholas Whitehorn, who defended Edward, said all the guns he collected came from movies, including Rambo III and The Expendables.

After the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Karl Nightingale said: “The prosecution was clear from the start that Neil was actively committing crime the night he was killed, trying car door handles and addresses. Neil did just that on the King family property.

However, the trial proved that the kings’ actions were not spontaneous. Their obsession with guns, pride in their possessions, and threats to harm those who offended them predate Mr. Charles’ murder by years.

Taking to the streets with guns to confront Mr. Charles was never the right thing to do and a criminal offense in itself. Their choice of weapons – a military dagger and a 27-inch Ninja sword – demonstrate their intentions once they locate Mr. Charles.

“David and Edward King have displayed arrogance and contempt all along. At no time have they shown genuine remorse or humility for their actions, convincing themselves that they have done nothing wrong at all. Their attempts to convince a jury of that rightly failed.”