Inmates cleared of Pentonville Prison murder
Robert Butler, defended by Piers Marquis and Di Middleton QC, has been unanimously acquitted of murder by an Old Bailey jury at the conclusion of a three month trial. Butler was one of three inmates accused of murdering a fellow inmate in HMP Pentonville. The Crown alleged that the three had launched a premeditated attack, stabbing the deceased to death with a hunting knife and flick knife.
Butler maintained that order had broken down to such an extent in Pentonville that his Wing was being run by an armed criminal gang; and the Prison Service was powerless to prevent the proliferation of weapons and extreme violence. Butler had to habitually carry a knife because of almost daily incidents of violence. When he himself faced life threatening violence he had to defend himself.
