A man convicted of murder went on trial a second t

A man convicted of murder went on trial a second time for
the same crime today (Weds) because of a ‘mistake’ by an Old Bailey
judge.

Richard King, 28, was found guilty of the brutal murder of
a woman and jailed for life in May 1990.

He had denied being the
killer.

But last year the Court of Appeal ordered a re-trial in the
case because the judge had made a mistake in his summing up.

Mr John Bevan, prosecuting, said: ‘There was, regrettably, a
fault in the summing up which resulted in the Court of Appeal
ordering a re-trial.

The fault was absolutely nothing to do with the defendant or
the prosecution.

‘
But there was further twist in the tale when, during
preparations for the new trial, it was discovered that King
had admitted he was the killer, to a ‘very experienced Home Office
psychiatrist,’ way back in 1989.

As a result of this new evidence King, of Seaton Point,
Nightingale Estate, Clapton, East London, pleaded guilty to the
manslaughter of Mrs Veronica Rose, 29 on August 11, 1989.

But he now claims he is not guilty of murder on the grounds
of diminished responsibility.

The new jury was told they would not have to decide whether
King was the killer, only whether his mental state at the time
diminished his responsibility for what he did.

Mrs Rose was stabbed 50 times at her flat in Bakewell Court,
Mandeville Street, Hackney, East London, on August 11 1989, after
having sex with King.

Police later found his footprint and fingerprint on a
newspaper lying close to the woman’s mutilated body, said Mr
Bevan.

Another clue in the case, which could have come straight
out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, was a diary belonging to the
victim, Mrs Veronica Rose, 29, which contained the mysterious
entry ‘M’ followed by a telephone number.

This turned out to be King’s home telephone number, the
court heard.

The same number appeared in another diary owned by the
victim, this time it was next to the name ‘Malcolm.

‘
Mr Bevan said King frequently advertised for female
company in the lonely hearts column of The Voice newspaper.

He
told one woman he met this way, and dated a number of times, that
his name was Malcolm.

The court heard King visited Mrs Rose ‘on a number of
occasions for sex for money.

‘
Her butchered body was found by her husband on the
day she died.

Mr Bevan said the ‘extremely houseproud’ woman had
been stabbed 50 times to the head, trunk, and limbs – all
over her body.

Wounds had penetrated her lungs, one kidney,
her liver and her heart.

When arrested King denied being the murderer.

At his
first Old Bailey trial he put forward a ‘lying defence’ that
although he had visited Mrs Rose, he was not her killer, the
jury heard.

Mr Bevan said King now claims he killed Mrs Rose because
he thought she was a witch.

He told the jury: ‘Beware of what he says.

What he tells
the doctors may or may not be true.

He will say anything he
thinks will help himself.

He has already put forward a lying
defence.

‘He killed Veronica Rose because he thought she was a
witch.

.

.

.

.

.

Is that a story he made up to start with with the
doctor and then ditched it in favour of a total denial then
resurrected it after what he told the doctor came out?’ Mr
Bevan asked rhetorically.

Adding: ‘Even if it is true he killed her because she
was a witch, was he truly mentally ill at the time and did it
substantially lessen his guilt.

‘These are the sort of questions you are going to have
to ask yourself in this case.

The fact that he tells doctors
something doesn’t mean it is necessarily true.

‘
Mr Bevan went on to tell the jury that they would hear
evidence from two psychiatrists – one called by the prosecution
the other by the defence.

But he went on: ‘It is not a trial by psychiatrists.

They
are here to assist you.

You will decide with their assistance,
bringing your commonsense to bear as you listen.

‘The Crown say the only alteration in truth since the
first trial in 1990 is that he now admits it.

‘It was murder the first time and it is murder this time,’
Mr Bevan told the jury.

The trial continues.

ends
‘
The trial continues.

ends