LEWIS Brown has been found guilty of the manslaughter of Lee Butler in Barton last October.

But the 20-year-old was cleared of Mr Butler’s murder. He was convicted of possession of a bladed article.

As the jury cleared him of murder, Brown smiled at the custody officer beside him in the dock and blew out a sigh of relief.

Remanding him in custody, Judge Ian Pringle QC told Brown: "You have been convicted unanimously by this jury of the offence of manslaughter of Lee Butler last year and also of carrying a knife in a public place.

"The sentence you will receive will be a significant one and I will deliver that on Tuesday next week. In the mean time you may go."

Stabbing or robbery?

Prosecutors said Mr Butler was fatally stabbed by his dealer, Brown, on October 8 last year in a dispute over the quality of drugs the defendant’s ‘Bob’ line was selling.

Brown, however, claimed he was forced to sell drugs on behalf of the line’s controller named in court only as ‘Jake’ and he stabbed Mr Butler in self-defence after the older man tried to rob him at knifepoint.

Giving evidence from the witness stand last week, Brown told the jury: “Earlier that day one user, I’m not sure who, they called the Bob phone and they told Jake someone was coming to rob me.

“He said to Jake there was threats made by Butler to rob me on that day.”

‘Jake’ gave him the knife for protection and he felt he had ‘no choice’ except to carry it, he claimed.

The youngster, who first started dealing drugs aged just 14 after dropping out of school, said he was told to make two drug drop-offs – but not told who his customers were.

When he saw Lee Butler in the park off Bayswater Road at around 5.50pm, he felt ‘anxious’. He claimed he sold Mr Butler’s friend, Donna Osbourne, some crack cocaine and went to leave when Mr Butler asked him ‘where are the rest of the bits’ – slang for drug wraps – before the older man pulled out a knife to reinforce the threat.

There was a struggle, during which Brown claimed to have produced his own knife and ‘pushed’ Mr Butler away then fled carrying both blades. He only realised he’d stabbed the older man when he saw blood on his knife, he claimed.

Later, while at the house of friend Kayleigh Kimber-Johnson in Hengrove Close, Barton, he was said to have been shown a report of Mr Butler’s death. “I only stabbed him once. How did he die from that?” he was said to have replied.

Ms Osbourne, the only eyewitness to the stabbing, had a differing account, however. She said Brown accused Mr Butler of ‘cussing man’s ting’ and talking down the Bob line’s drugs to her and another addict. The defendant allegedly asked Mr Butler if he was ‘boying’ him off, or belittling him, before ‘poking’ his knife at him.

Mr Butler, who in a family tribute last year was described as a ‘gentle giant’, died at the scene. A post-mortem found he died from a 14cm stab wound that pierced his lung and major blood vessel the aorta.

His friend, Ms Osbourne, slammed as ‘appalling’ the suggestion that Mr Butler had robbed Brown. She told the defendant’s barrister Frida Hussain QC: “Lee had never stolen a penny sweet from a shop let alone a drug dealer.”

What was the legal position?

Summing up the law to the jury at Oxford Crown Court yesterday morning, Judge Pringle said the jury could only convict the defendant of murder if the prosecution had made them sure of three things.

First, that the defendant assaulted Lee Butler with a knife on October 8. Secondly, that Brown was not acting in lawful self-defence of himself. And, finally, that at the time of the assault the defendant either intended to kill Mr Butler or cause him ‘some really serious bodily harm’.

The judge explained that Brown would be not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter if the jury were sure that he committed an unlawful act which ‘all sober or reasonable people’ would have realised put the victim at risk of ‘some harm’ - but did not intend to kill him or cause really serious harm.

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