A printer who hacked his brother to death with a m
A printer who hacked his brother to death with a machete was jailed for three and a half years at the Old Bailey today.
(Weds)
Richard Dyer, 24, killed brother Graham after failing to cope with his anti-social behaviour following the break-up of their parents marriage.
He snapped when Graham threatened their mother and smashed windows at their home after descending into haze of drink and drugs.
Dyer brought the machete crashing down on his 22-year-old brother’s head as he slept at their North Cheam home.
Dyer was cleared of murder when an Old Bailey jury acquitted him after just one hour of deliberation.
But he was found guilty of his brother’s manslaughter after he told the court he was terrified Graham would carry out his threat to kill their mother.
The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Peter Beaumont, QC, told him: ‘You have to be punished to make it clear society cannot exist where members take the law into their own hands to solve problems, however acute.
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Dyer had insisted the killing was accidental and the he had intended only to hit his brother on the arm with the machete.
After the killing he called the police from a nearby telephone box and said: ‘I think I might have killed my brother.
I walked into his bedroom and hit him with a machete in the head.
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Officers rushed to the scene to find the bleeding victim lying on a mattress with the machete by his side.
Dyer told detectives: ‘I am frightened of my brother.
He breaks things.
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He added: ‘I just could not take it anymore.
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A post mortem revealed Graham suffered multiple head wounds caused by the machete during the incident on September 22 last year.
The court heard Dyer, a print finisher for a Beckenham firm, took over the role as ‘father figure’ after the brother’s parents separated.
But the victim, described by his mother as a ‘kind, helpful and happy-go-lucky character’ took to drink and drugs.
Today Dyer’s barrister, Lady Anne Mallalieu, QC, told the court: ‘He was unbalanced that night and behaved in a way that was at total variance with his previous history.
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The death of Graham had deeply affected Dyer and his family and would leave ‘undoubtedly a pain that will continue for the rest of his life and their lives,’ the QC added.
His parents were in court to see Dyer, of Henley Avenue, North Cheam, jailed.
The Common Serjeant said he had considered all mitigating circumstances and told Dyer: ‘Above all I have regard that you were faced with your brothers increasing anti-social behaviour.
‘However he did not deserve to die.
He certainly did not deserve to die at your hands.
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Dyer showed no trace of emotion as he was led to the cells.
ends
