Jury urged not to let Travellers' code effect outcome of Lincoln pensioner Sonny Grey's murder - Lincolnshire

From the Lincolnshire Echo

A jury has been urged not to let the Travellers' code cloud their judgement when deciding the fate of two men suspected of murdering Lincoln pensioner Sonny Grey.

Rocky Curtis, 25, of Newbridge Lane, Wisbech, and Robert Holmes, 24, of Redmoor Lane, Wisbech, are both accused of murdering the 70-year-old grandfather, who died in City Hospital, Nottingham, on October 31, 2011.

He was attacked two days earlier in his home in Westwick Gardens, Lincoln, where he received 46 injuries and had boiling water poured on him from a kettle.

Curtis and Holmes were arrested in connection with the incident along with Curtis' older, now-deceased, brother Tom. All three came from Traveller families and Mr Grey himself was a former traveller.

Making his closing arguments on behalf of the defence counsel for Holmes, Andrew Campbell-Tiech, QC, explained that due to generations of persecution all over the world, Travellers live by their own code of ethics and avoid getting state authorities involved in legal matters within their community.

It is alleged that this is why Holmes and Curtis answered "no comment" to most questions put before them by police when they were first arrested on suspicion of murder.

Mr Campbell-Tiech today urged the jury in Nottingham Crown Court not to let this cloud their judgement when decided the two men's fate.

He said: "We have only touched upon what is called the code as if it is some entirely Traveler based reaction to the police.

"The Traveller community has suffered for years and years, for decade after decade, and have seen persecution after persecution.

"The results of this can be seen in the faces of people in the witness box.

"This community, for historical reasons, simply doesn't trust the home state. It is an expression of distrust in all of us.

"Little wonder that something like this breeds hostility. You saw it in every single Traveller witness."

It was also revealed by Mr Campbell-Tiech that Holmes had lost a child in the months before his arrest with his common-law wife Stephanie Lawrence. He said that up until Holmes' arrest, the pair visited their dead baby's grave every night.

Mr Campbell-Tiech added: "This tells you more about this young man. Would you expect a thug, a torturer, a murderer, to behave like this."

The trial continues.