A dad went through an 18-month ordeal which resulted in HIM being arrested after he tackled a masked burglar who was trying to steal his car.
Lee Fellowes, 45, confronted career criminal Craig Norman on his driveway after the burglar had smashed the window of his front door.
The father-of-two ‘instinctively grabbed a knife’ and stabbed Craig Norman in the stomach to protect his wife Kelly who was already grappling with the burglar on the drive of their home in Swinton .
Norman, who has a ‘dreadful’ criminal record, ‘died’ twice and spent six months in hospital after the incident on January 3 last year.
But he continued to commit crimes after his release and while still recovering.
He was eventually jailed in December for three and a half years after pleading guilty to burglary.
But after his conviction Norman made a formal complaint to police about the stabbing in a letter written from his cell and GMP were duty bound to investigate.
Arrest
In March this year Lee was arrested and interviewed under caution.
Crown lawyers then assessed a police file on the case but returned it to GMP for more checks before finally deciding that Lee should not be prosecuted.
Kelly, 34, commenting on the decision to take no further action against Lee, which was broken to her by the MEN, said: “We are really over the moon. It is a massive weight off our shoulders. When it had gone on for so long we had begun to fear the worse.
“It has been 18 months of our lives being on hold - and yet we are the victims of a burglary.
“It has been awful. People don’t realise what effect it has on your life.
“Lee is not as confident as he used to be. He has gone a bit withdrawn. Every time we heard a loud noise in the street we would get panicky.
“We now lock the doors and windows - even when we are at home. We have given moving house some serious consideration. It is not something which is financially viable at the moment, but after what happened we may eventually do so.
“You relive what happened that night regularly. You try to block it out, but then someone says something, and it comes back.
“The situation has put pressure on Lee and myself, and our relationship, with Lee going into himself. But we have remained strong, and got through it.
“For the last 18 months it's as if we have not been free. We have not planned any holidays as we have not known what was going to happen.
“It has been scary. Lee was interviewed on suspicion of either section 20 or section 18 wounding. You do your research and then discover that potentially your husband could been jailed for longer than the person who burgled your home.
“Lee was looking at potentially ten years or longer. He was facing the prospect of not watching his children grow up.”
Profound impact
The couple’s solicitor, Claire Parrott of Tuckers Solicitors, said: “Lee and his wife Kelly welcome the decision of ‘no further action’ by the Crown Prosecution Service.
“However this incident is something that has had a profound impact on their lives for the past 18 months. Not only were they the victims of a burglary whilst at home enjoying a quiet evening in, with their two year old son in bed, they have then had to endure months of uncertainty as to whether Lee would face charges.
“To put it into context and in their words, they ‘went from being the victims to the criminals’ when Lee was questioned by the Police in March, which was delayed as the initial questioning was due to take place when Kelly Fellowes was in hospital giving birth to their second child.
“They also endured giving evidence at the Crown Court whilst Kelly Fellowes was heavily pregnant. This time should have been a time of celebration for the family but it was always tainted by the impending decision on Lee’s future. They have both described this time as harrowing and is something that will stay with them forever. Lee and Kelly would like to thank the police and the MEN for their support throughout this difficult time.
“Both myself and Jill Eastwood who have had conduct of this matter throughout are both delighted with the decision, in what was always clear to us to be the proper outcome. In my view it was clearly transparent that this was the instinctive actions of a man of good character under extreme circumstances.”
A CPS Spokesperson said: “Following receipt of a file of evidence from Greater Manchester Police, we carefully considered that evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. We concluded that the householder should not be charged with any offence.
“We are satisfied that the householder acted instinctively and proportionately. We are also satisfied that he used such force as was necessary to protect himself and his family from a masked burglar who not only had gone equipped to burgle the property, but who also posed a real threat to their personal safety.
“As with every case, we have informed the police - who are responsible for liaising with suspects and their legal representatives – of our decision.
Complex case for Crown lawyers
The case was a difficult one for Crown lawyers to assess as the stabbing occurred on the driveway of the couple’s home.
Section 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 allows ‘householders’ to use ‘disproportionate’ force when defending themselves against intruders into the home.
This became law on April 5 2013.
The provision ‘does not give householders free rein’ to use disproportionate force in every case.
Householders can only rely on this heightened defence of disproportionate force if:
- They are using force to defend themselves or others, but not if they are protecting their property.
The intruder is in a building or part of a building - including the threshold of a home - ‘climbing in through a window perhaps’.
But householders cannot rely on the defence if the confrontation occurred ‘wholly outside the building, for example in the garden.’
Even though the incident was outside the house the CPS decided Lee had acted ‘instinctively and proportionately.’
