Burglary death case man 'scarred for life'

A businessman released without charge after a fatal struggle with a burglar wept yesterday as he told how his experience has left him scarred for life.

Niklos Baungartner, 53, of Ockbrook, Derby, was speaking for the first time since the death of Robert Ingham, a 22-year-old unemployed man from Derby, at Mr Baungartner's five-bedroom house on Saturday afternoon.

At a press conference at the office of his solicitor Stuart Barlow, Mr Baungartner, who runs a business laying tennis courts, shuffled in with a plaster cast on one wrist and a black eye suffered in the struggle. Asked what effect Mr Ingham's death had had, he replied: "I will never be a man again."

He broke down as his solicitor explained that although police had released him last night without charge, papers were being forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration.

His solicitor said: "Mr Baungartner was detained in hospital for a short period having sustained various injuries. Mr Baungartner attended at Ilkeston police station on Monday 1 January 1996 as a volunteer where he has assisted the police with their investigations. He was not arrested. Mr Baungartner has experienced a terrifying ordeal and asks that his privacy and that of his wife be respected."

A post-mortem examination on Mr Ingham has revealed that he died from a neck injury consistent with Mr Baungartner's description of the struggle, which ended with the dead man lying on his driveway as he ran to neighbours for help.