Young man who murdered friend with ceremonial sword jailed for life

26-year-old Douglas Plumpton, a Rastafarian, known as “Rasta Jack” had admitted killing his neighbour Iain Maddocks on the victim’s 32nd birthday but claimed he had never meant to cause serious harm.

He denied murder but a Liverpool Crown Court jury convicted him of that offence following just three hours of deliberation.

Ordering Plumpton, of Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead, to serve a minimum of 19 years, Judge Alan Conrad, QC said, “His untimely death in the horrific circumstances in which it took place has caused misery and pain to those close to him.

“He had done nothing to deserve the brutal armed violence that you used and which ended his life.”

The judge ruled that Plumpton had used a knife as well as a sword in the attack on the doorstep of the defendant’s flat and it was responsible for one of the injuries he suffered, going through right his arm into his chest.

One of the weapons used by Plumpton (Merseyside Police)

He tried to make it look as though he had acted in self-defence by getting the knife placed by the body, tried to cover up the offence and considered moving the body to an empty flat.

Even as his victim lay dying Plumpton was heard in a harrowing 999 call claiming he had come to his home threatening him adding, “If he dies, it’s his own f….ing fault.”

Judge Conrad said, “You had adopted a selfish lifestyle, spending large amounts on drugs and supplying drugs on a small scale to people known to you, including Mr Maddocks, whose debt to you was the real cause of your annoyance.:

In an impact statement the victim’s mum, Linda Maddocks, described Ian, her youngest of two boys, as “such a character” with an “infectious smile” who always made people laugh at the things he did and said.

“He was always smiling and loved life so much.”

She attended the nine day trial and stated, “Having to see the sword and knife that killed him is something no mother should have to see.”

Mrs Maddocks said that she and Ian’s brother John are both having counselling and she has not yet been able to return to work. “I suppose I have lost my spark.”

During the trial the jury heard how the victim bled to death just outside the front door of Plumpton’s flat, He had suffered a number of stab and slash wounds from the sword and a knife but it was mainly the stab injury to his femoral artery in his left leg that led to his death.

Mr Maddocks, who lived in the same block, had previously borrowed £180 from Plumpton and agreed to pay it back at £70 per month but in March this year had only paid £40, said Gordon Cole, QC, prosecuting.

Plumpton was angry about this and had damaged Mr Maddock’s car headlights. The victim died after calling at Plumpton’s home about this on the afternoon of March 30, Good Friday this year about the incident.

The defendant, a left wing activist, claimed that Mr Maddocks had produced a kitchen knife and so he grabbed the Saxon-style sword, which was one of two he had to help him make scenes realistic in his Game of Thrones type novel he was writing.

He claimed that the victim suffered the fatal stab wound during a struggle with the sword.

The court heard that there was blood along 19cm of the two inch thick sword from the tip.

The victim died in hospital about an hour and a half after the incident and a pathologist found

he had suffered five stab wounds and two groups of slash type wounds.

Timothy Raggatt,QC, defending, said that there was no question Plumpton, who suffered from Aspergers and depression “ has a damaged personality for all sorts of reasons apparent from a psychiatric report.”

He told the court that the defendant, who has had his Rastafarian locks chopped off since the trial, “ has a history of abuse of prohibited drugs and that is part of his damaged personality and mental conditions.”

Mr Raggatt said, “He did not intend to kill him, it was a spur of the moment event. An intention to cause even grievous bodily harm must have been very short-lived.”

He said Plumpton claimed the victim used to “pester him for money and come at all hours creating difficulties.”