Looks like he might not have been completely inocent: Seems the guy who got 8 years was a drug dealer and on top of that chased them out of his house before stabbing them:
quote:
A WALKDEN drug dealer was today starting an eight-year jail sentence for stabbing a 37-year-old Salford robber to death with a samurai sword. ...
"As they fled you stabbed one assailant four times in the back," he told Lindsay.
"You took a life by deliberate retaliation using a lethal weapon you kept in your home when aware you were a high risk target."
From what I can see, he wasn't charged with any drug crimes related to this incident; he was
only charged with killing a robber in self-defense. We can argue the niceties of whether or not chasing them down should be a factor or not (did he stab the guy 10 feet outside the door, or 10 yards down the street?), but that doesn't change the fact that he was assaulted with a ranged weapon (i.e., one capable of attack outside of arms' length).
Had he
not chased them, then it is certainly conceivable that one or more of the robbers could have stopped, turned, and fired on him. Since he did not have a ranged weapon (gun, crossbow, bow, spear, etc.) with which to defend himself, personally, I would be inclined to accept that he had little choice but to chase them a little.
As for being a drug dealer, so? In the U.S., even criminals have a right to self-defense, although the standards are a little higher for them to prove it. (I confess, however, that had he been killed, I wouldn't shed any tears over one less drug dealer in the world.)
