Father and son armed with fighting knife and Ninja sword stabbed suspected thief to death in vigilante attack

A father and son who stabbed a suspected thief to death in a vigilante attack face a life behind bars after both were found guilty of murder.

David King, 55, and Edward King, 19, armed themselves with knives and hunted down Neil Charles.

Police had received a call from David King at around 3.55am on Sunday 20 June, 2021 saying a man had been trying to steal from his car on the Moreton Hall estate.

He told the call taker that he had tried to apprehend the man who had run off, admitting he had a knife in his hand and the man claimed he was injured by this before he ran away.

Pair had double-edged fighting knife and Ninja sword

During the incident in Bury St Edmunds the pair chased Mr Charles, 47, down the road before attacking him

David King used a double-edged fighting knife to inflict a fatal 12cm stab wound in Charles’ chest. Edward King had a 27-inch Ninja Sword that he used to slice Mr Charles’ knee.

When police arrived officers located David King in Winsford Road, away from his address, and where the stabbing took place.

Other officers located the victim further into the street where he was found to have sustained a serious stab wound to the chest and was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

Mr Charles, who had a number of previous convictions for theft and burglary, died in hospital from his injuries on 22 June.

David and Edward King denied murder but were found guilty after a 10-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday (30 May).

Text messages revealed a fascination with weapons

Police analysis of both men’s text message history revealed they had a fascination with weapons.

It also revealed that, following previous thefts in the area, they had an intent and desire to deal with any perceived criminals themselves.

During the trial, both men denied intentionally killing Mr Charles.

David King claimed that he had disturbed Mr Charles in the act of trying to break into his car and he had run onto his knife.

But the prosecution argued that the two men had actively gone out to hunt down and attack Mr Charles in an act of vigilantism.

The pair have been remanded in custody for a sentencing hearing at Ipswich Crown Court on a date yet to be fixed.