'Vigilante' diplomat denies killing mugger

The murder trial of a Colombian diplomat accused of stabbing a man who mugged his son began yesterday, after his government waived his rights to diplomatic immunity.

Jairo Soto-Mendoza, 45, a sergeant-major and secretary to the military attaché at the Colombian embassy in London, is accused of hunting down a man who had allegedly stolen his son's credit cards.

The diplomat was charged with murder last September, four months after the alleged incident took place. The Colombian government had decided to lift his immunity. Mr Soto-Mendoza, whose trial began yesterday at the Old Bailey in London, denies murder. The court was told how the alleged vigilante-style killing followed the mugging of his 21-year-old son by two men: Damian Broom, who had a history of minor offences, and Lee Broome, a convicted robber.

The pair allegedly left his son, Jairo Soto-Valencia, "badly shaken" and slightly bruised after stealing his credit cards outside Perivale Underground station in west London.

After returning to his home in Greenford, west London, and telling his father of the incident, Mr Soto-Mendoza allegedly took matters into his own hands. "Instead of calling the police, the defendant decided to take it upon himself to find his son's attackers," said Mark Dennis, for the prosecution. "It is alleged that having learnt from his son that he had been attacked by two adult males ... the defendant decided to arm himself with a knife ... and go in search of them."

Shortly after, the pair found the two men in a nearby supermarket, where they confronted them ata checkout. While Mr Broome escaped after being chased by the son, the victim did not manage to flee, Mr Dennis told the court.

Describing the moment Mr Broom was cornered by the defendant, he said: "Damian Broom was then to receive a single stab wound just below his right nipple." Mr Broom, 23, who had one child, died in hospital about an hour later from injuries to his liver.

Mr Soto-Mendoza and his son fled the scene but the next day reported the street robbery to police.

He later claimed to have acted to protect his son from harm after coincidentally bumping into the two men, according to Mr Dennis. He said: "But the prosecution allege the defendant deliberately stabbed Damian Broom in the chest in an act not of lawful self-defence but in a moment of mixed emotion - anger and the desire for retaliation for what had happened."

The trial continues.