Bidve killer's trial verdict likely soon

 

The judge, Justice Timothy King, will resume summing up the trial tomorrow and later the jury will retire to consider the verdict on Kiaran Stapleton, who has admitted manslaughter but not murder, on grounds of diminished responsibility.

King told the jury today that the facts of Bidve's death were heartbreaking, and added that jurors may have sympathy towards the defendant.

But it was important they carried out a dispassionate assessment of the evidence, he said.

The prosecution case was that the defendant was in control of his actions at the time of the shooting, there was no loss of control and he was not angry or upset, the judge said.

He said the defence argued this was "too simplistic".

Prior to the shooting Stapleton had drunk five or six bottles of vodka, The Guardian reported.

The judge said part of Stapleton's defence relied on the facts that the gun belonged to his friend Ryan Holden, that Holden handed it to him unexpectedly moments before the shooting, and that Stapleton did not know or believe the gun was loaded.

"The defendant failed to mention any of these matters during police interviews. For the most part, he said: 'No comment'. He never mentioned these things and this failure may count against him," the judge said.

He said the prosecution argued that the defendant told several lies.

The defence argued the lies were "part and parcel of the recognised medical condition", he added.