This is not the way you want to get caught

A man was arrested for murdering his long-term partner after police secretly taped him apparently confessing to his cats, a jury has been told. David Henton, 72, who lived alone, was heard to say: “They know I did it, see.”

Mr Henton, of Neath, broke a window in the back door of her home to make it look like a burglary, the court heard.

His defence questions the relevance of the tapes, and he denies murdering Joyce Sutton, 65, near Neath in 2006. Mrs Sutton was bludgeoned to death in bed, and the court was told the investigation was a year old before police turned their attention to Mr Henton...

Paul Lewis QC, prosecuting, said detectives covertly installed devices in his home and his car. He tended to talk to his pets and most of what he said was irrelevant, said Mr Lewis. But on 24 January 2007, he was taped telling them: “So, I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if they can prove it or anything. What am I going to say if they find anything?” He added: “I did this to mummy, up there.”

The following day he was taped saying: “Hi Joyce. It’s Dai. They know I did it, see.”

Then he said: “I’m still under suspicion. Oh my Joyce. I will get a solicitor. They know it was me. They had my car in and they searched it. But they have taken it again now.”

Elwen Evans QC, defending, interrupted the prosecution’s opening speech to question the relevance of the recordings. “We do not accept the accuracy of the interpretation taken by the Crown,” she told the court. [BBC]

Body parts

All right, now this is a story about a man illegally selling body parts. It’s important that we report it very carefully. The last thing we want is to open up the story to misinterpretation or cheap jokes.



... Damn.

Swearing at work

I feel wholly vindicated.

Swearing at work helps employees cope with stress, academics at a Norfolk university have said.

A study by Norwich's University of East Anglia (UEA) into leadership styles found the use of “taboo language” boosted team spirit. Professor Yehuda Baruch, professor of management, warned that attempts to prevent workers from swearing could have a negative impact.

But Professor Baruch discouraged swearing in front of customers. [BBC]

How Swearing Works