PC Jonathan Charles Henry (1 January 1971 – 11 June 2007)
was a British police officer who was murdered in
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
, Bedfordshire, whilst on duty and responding to reports of a stabbing in the town centre.
Background
Henry had served in the
Bedfordshire Police force for three years prior to his death, and worked previously as a floor fitter in the Luton area. He married Mary in 2005 and had an infant daughter, Maggie.
Murder
At around 7:18 am on 11 June 2007, having begun his shift at 7 am, Henry responded to
999 calls reporting a stabbing on George Street in Luton town centre. A window cleaner, Stephen Chamberlain, had been stabbed in a random attack. Henry approached the suspect from behind to attempt to arrest him but was stabbed in the chest with a knife; he was stabbed a second time as he lay on the ground wounded.
Another window cleaner, David Knight, struck the suspect over the head with a window cleaning pole. Police back-up officers then used a baton round and two shots from a
Taser
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...
to subdue the suspect.
Henry was taken to
Luton and Dunstable Hospital by ambulance but later died of his injuries.
[
]
Conviction
Paranoid schizophrenic Ikechukwu Tennyson Obih, a 29-year-old Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
n immigrant, was convicted of Henry's murder on 26 March 2009 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 25 years.
Obih abused alcohol and cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
and from 2004 he heard voices and hallucinations and had delusions. During his trial the jury heard how Obih believed that he had special powers, could predict the future, and could make something explode just by pointing at it. He also distrusted the police.
Obih had denied the charge of murder, but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility
In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental func ...
. The jury rejected this defence and found him guilty of the murder of Henry, the attempted murder of Chamberlain and the wounding with intent of Knight (he was found not guilty of the attempted murder of Knight). Obih was also convicted of aggravated burglary and assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (often abbreviated to Assault OABH, AOABH or simply ABH) is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong an ...
in a separate incident on the same day. The judge accepted that Obih's schizophrenia was a mitigating factor in the case, and recommended that he receive psychiatric rehabilitation
Psychiatric rehabilitation, also known as psych social rehabilitation, and sometimes simplified to psych rehab by providers, is the process of restoration of community functioning and well-being of an individual diagnosed in mental health or emotio ...
at a high-security mental hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
.[
]
Memorial
In 2008 the Police Memorial Trust
The Police Memorial Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1984 and based in London. The trust's objective is to erect memorials to British police officers killed in the line of duty, at or near the spot where they died, thereby acting as ...
erected a stone memorial to PC Henry near the location of his murder in George Street, Luton. Present at the unveiling was the Trust's founder Michael Winner
Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...
and the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
.
See also
*List of British police officers killed in the line of duty
Thousands of police officers in Britain are believed to have died during the course of their duties, but this article includes only those who were killed as a direct result of a crime or while attempting to respond, prevent, stop or solve a spe ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Jonathan
2007 murders in the United Kingdom
2007 in England
21st century in Bedfordshire
British police officers
Murder in Bedfordshire
Luton
June 2007 events in the United Kingdom
Deaths by stabbing in England