Estonian national among 5 charged with murder of ex-serviceman in UK city
An Estonian citizen is among five people charged with the murder of a man in the northern English city of Hull, the BBC reported.
Local police named the victim as Martin Chadburn, a former serviceman who was an employee of veterans' support charity Hull 4 Heroes. He died in hospital Tuesday morning after being taken there Sunday with a life-threatening head injury, following an alleged serious assault in the city, local police said.
Emergency services were called to Queen Victoria Square at about 3:45 a.m. last Sunday after the incident, which followed Chadburn getting into an argument with three women and two men.
Postimees reported the victim was 53 years of age.
Of the five suspects charged with murder at Hull Crown Court Friday, the BBC named one as Kristjan Suits, 34, an Estonian national, of Queens Road in the same town.
Postimees reported Suits is a permanent resident of the U.K., adding that the court on Friday ordered the five people to be remanded in custody until their verdict. The five will next appear in court on August 7, while ITV reported the trial is likely to take place in September or November this year.
Humberside Police said the three women suspects, two of them twin sisters, were U.K. nationals, while the second male suspect is a Polish national. All are resident in Hull.
In a statement released after Mr Chadburn's death reported by local paper The Hull Story, Paul Matson, CEO of Hull 4 Heroes, said it had been "extremely difficult to put into words how profoundly shocked and saddened we are at the loss of our colleague and friend, Martin Chadburn."
Matson noted Chadburn, who had served in the U.K. military for nine years, had been with Hull 4 Heroes since its start, and "embodied the spirit and values of the charity."
The statement also called for authorities to be "given the time and space needed to do their job so justice can take its right and proper course," despite the public revulsion and anger at the incident.
ITV reported a request from the defense was also passed to Humberside Police for Facebook posts referring to the case to be monitored, to protect the right to a fair trial.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: BBC, Postimees, ITV, Hull Story
