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Brothers cleared of estate murder
TWO brothers wept in the dock at the Old Bailey this week when the “nightmare” of a murder charge was lifted from them.
Arrested almost two years ago, youth workers Lyndell and Donovan Christie were finally cleared by a jury of any involvement in the killing of a small-time drugs dealer.
Last May, other jurors were unable to agree a verdict and the brothers were re-tried.
On that occasion their cousin and a fourth defendant were convicted and sentenced to life terms.
On Monday, after a retirement of several hours, a jury cleared them of the fatal stabbing of Joseph “Tinker” Armstrong, who was lured to a stairwell on the Newington Green estate where he was attacked on September 12, 2006.
Armstrong, 40, a father-of-three, lived with his girlfriend at Congrieve House on the estate until she threw him out just days before his death because of his heavy drinking.
The jury heard that Armstrong, who was suspected of stealing a teenage girl’s mobile phone, was on his way to what he believed was a “meet” over a cannabis deal when he was ambushed at Besant Court. He was stabbed in the neck, stomach and back.
Two knifemen, musician Jamal Dyce, 19, of Congrieve House – a cousin of the brothers – and Curtis Henry-Seabourne, 22, a butcher, of Hathersage Court, are serving life terms for the killing.
The Christie brothers, Lyndell, 27 on the day of the acquittal, and Donovan, 25, of Hathersage Court, steadfastly maintained their innocence.
But Donovan did admit to attempting to pervert justice in phone calls from Pentonville Prison.
He was given an 18-month sentence, covered by the time he had already spent on remand.
The brothers told the court: “We always tried to bring peace and order to the estate. We would never get involved in a murder.”
Character witnesses described them as “highly motivated in helping young people”. |
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