Man found guilty of killing 'career burglar' faces prison

A father was convicted yesterday of the manslaughter of a "career burglar" he found in his family's home. Barry-Lee Hastings, 25, was cleared of murder but found guilty by a 10-2 majority at the Old Bailey of killing Roger Williams, 35.

Hastings, of Wood Green, north London, was remanded in custody by Judge Brian Barker for reports. Mr Williams, of Tottenham, north London, died in January after being stabbed 12 times in the back. Hastings, a gas engineer, said he had been protecting his estranged wife and two children..

But Peter Kyte QC, for the prosecution, said he "overstepped the mark" and "meted out his own form of punishment". Three wounds were potentially fatal and one penetrated the heart.

Mr Kyte added: "The law recognises a man is entitled to defend himself, his family and his property, only if his action does not go beyond the reasonable and the necessary. There is no doubt Roger Williams was a thoroughly bad hat in the eyes of the law. But as a human being he is just as entitled to the freedom to live as anyone else."

Williams, who had many convictions, including for violence, was on the run when he entered the Hastings' flat.