Jurors deliberated for a total of almost 32 hours before returning the verdicts at Hull Crown Court
Martin Chadburn died in April(Image: hull4heroes.org.uk)
Three of the five people originally accused of murdering 53-year-old Martin Chadburn, a Hull 4 Heroes development officer, during “street violence” in the early hours of the morning have been convicted of manslaughter. The three – one of the twin sisters, another woman and one of the two men – were all found guilty at Hull Crown Court after a trial.
The verdicts finally came after the jury returned to court at 2.27pm today (Monday, October 19) following a total of 31 hours and 52 minutes of deliberations since it first began its discussions on the morning of Thursday, October 8.
The deliberations spanned eight days, although one day was lost on Thursday last week because a juror was ill and the Friday was also a non-day after another juror was ill.
Britney Naylor, 20, of Dibsdane, Orchard Park estate, north Hull, and Shaytoyia Farrow, 21, of Peter Street, Blackpool, as well as Lucasz Matusiak, 27, of Needlers Way, Hull, were all convicted of manslaughter. Britney Naylor and Matusiak were convicted unanimously and Farrow by a majority of 10 to two.
All three were cleared of murder. Britney Naylor’s twin sister, Bethany Naylor, 20, of Deerhurst Grove, Bransholme, Hull, and Kristjan Suits, 35, of Queens Road, Hull, were both cleared of manslaughter. A murder charge against them both had earlier been dropped on the direction of the judge. They were both discharged.
After the verdicts, Bethany Naylor sobbed and wailed uncontrollably for several minutes and closely hugged her twin sister in the secure dock. Judge John Thackray KC took a sympathetic view of the emotional scenes and told two dock custody officers not to interrupt them, saying: “Don’t rush them, officers.”
Sentence was adjourned for reports on the three convicted of manslaughter until November and they were further remanded in custody.
Judge Thackray had earlier told the jury that he had decided that there was not sufficient evidence for a murder charge against Bethany Naylor and Suits. This was because the prosecution had to prove an intention to cause grievous bodily harm or what was also known as really serious harm.
Judge Thackray said that he was not satisfied that a jury could be sure, given CCTV evidence and the speed of the incident, that there was an intention by the two to cause really serious harm. The two had to be found not guilty of murder.
On the direction of the judge, Bethany Naylor and Suits were found not guilty of murder. The manslaughter charge remained for them and the other three defendants.
Mr Chadburn, an Army veteran, was found slumped unconscious in the street with an “non-survivable” brain injury. The incident happened in Hull city centre after about 3.30am on Sunday, April 19.
Police were called and they found a man, Mr Chadburn, on the ground, bleeding from the head and unresponsive. It quickly became apparent that Mr Chadburn had been left seriously injured after a confrontation in the street.
The emergency services were called and he was taken to hospital. He was found to have a “non-survivable brain injury” and he died two days later on April 21. He had suffered a fatal bleed on the blow caused by a blow or blows to the head.
Mr Chadburn and a male friend of more than 35 years had been out for the night. They had been in the city centre since 6pm on the Saturday night and they were “intoxicated”.
The last pub they visited was The Star in Carr Lane and they left about 3.30am to get a taxi home. The three women, the Naylor twins and Farrow, came into contact with them in the area of The Star. The two men appeared on the scene afterwards.
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.