http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/boxers-dea...105-28t5v.html
Boxer's death: man found guilty of manslaughter
Paul Bibby
John Marceta ... stabbed to death in 2011.
A Sydney man has been found guilty of manslaughter over the death of a former professional boxer, with a jury accepting his claim that he was not guilty of murder because there was an element of self defence.
Craig Charles Pitts, 29, was charged with murder over the August 2011 stabbing death of John Marceta, 38, who was killed in the hallway of a housing estate on Morehead Street, Redfern.
During the course of the trial, the jury heard that Mr Marceta was one of a group of men who went up to Mr Pitts's unit on the afternoon of August 2 to buy cannabis.
The court heard that, when Mr Pitts told Mr Marceta to go away because he did not have any cannabis to sell them, Mr Marceta kicked the accused's door, possibly with the intention of breaking in.
The Crown alleged that Mr Pitts then grabbed a knife from his kitchen sink and confronted the men, killing Mr Marceta with a single 14-centimetre stab wound that penetrated his heart.
But Mr Pitts said that he was attacked by the group, who dragged him out into the corridor and began punching and kicking him.
He said that he delivered the knife blow during this attack and was acting in defence of himself and his family.
A member of Mr Pitts's family later told police they heard him shout: "I've killed someone, I didn't mean to ... saving my family."
On Thursday, a Supreme Court jury partially accepted Pitts's defence, finding him not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
He will return to court on December 13 for sentencing.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/boxers-dea...#ixzz2BJNHqO1s
I don't want to talk about the incident. It is a tragedy that a man is dead and a jury has found the killer guilty of Manslaughter.
What I would like to talk about is the heading of this, an entirely inflammatory heading that seems to imply that the deceased died in a boxing ring. The photo used is that of a boxing match and, if one were to glance over the page, one would deduce that a man had killed another man in the ring.
Now, obviously the people who read the article will get the whole story, but this just seems to me to be representative of Fairfax Media's slant on combat sports as a whole, pandering to their key demographic that views the sports as brutal and dangerous.
I can only wonder what would happen if a "cage fighter" were involved.
Quote:
Boxer's death: man found guilty of manslaughter
Paul Bibby
John Marceta ... stabbed to death in 2011.
A Sydney man has been found guilty of manslaughter over the death of a former professional boxer, with a jury accepting his claim that he was not guilty of murder because there was an element of self defence.
Craig Charles Pitts, 29, was charged with murder over the August 2011 stabbing death of John Marceta, 38, who was killed in the hallway of a housing estate on Morehead Street, Redfern.
During the course of the trial, the jury heard that Mr Marceta was one of a group of men who went up to Mr Pitts's unit on the afternoon of August 2 to buy cannabis.
The court heard that, when Mr Pitts told Mr Marceta to go away because he did not have any cannabis to sell them, Mr Marceta kicked the accused's door, possibly with the intention of breaking in.
The Crown alleged that Mr Pitts then grabbed a knife from his kitchen sink and confronted the men, killing Mr Marceta with a single 14-centimetre stab wound that penetrated his heart.
But Mr Pitts said that he was attacked by the group, who dragged him out into the corridor and began punching and kicking him.
He said that he delivered the knife blow during this attack and was acting in defence of himself and his family.
A member of Mr Pitts's family later told police they heard him shout: "I've killed someone, I didn't mean to ... saving my family."
On Thursday, a Supreme Court jury partially accepted Pitts's defence, finding him not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
He will return to court on December 13 for sentencing.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/boxers-dea...#ixzz2BJNHqO1s
What I would like to talk about is the heading of this, an entirely inflammatory heading that seems to imply that the deceased died in a boxing ring. The photo used is that of a boxing match and, if one were to glance over the page, one would deduce that a man had killed another man in the ring.
Now, obviously the people who read the article will get the whole story, but this just seems to me to be representative of Fairfax Media's slant on combat sports as a whole, pandering to their key demographic that views the sports as brutal and dangerous.
I can only wonder what would happen if a "cage fighter" were involved.