The family of a dad-two have spoken of their unbearable pain after he was killed by a man who was supposed to be his friend during a psychotic episode. Jonathan Wilson, 34, of Woodthorpe Avenue, Boston, was sentenced to 14 years and six months behind bars at Lincoln Crown Court yesterday (December 12).
He pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of James Jimmy' Britton after an incident last year on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Wilson had gone into a state of psychosis when he rammed a stolen van into his good friend on November 10, 2021, in Skegness.
Mr Britton died in hospital in the early hours of November 18. Katherine Goddard KC, who prosecuted in the case, read out a series of victim impact statements in court, Lincolnshire Live reports.
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Kelly Gration, Mr Britton's cousin, also on behalf of other members of the family, said: "We have always been very close and right at the centre of our family has always been Jimmy. He was and had always remained more like a brother to me and everyone would agree that across our wider family he was everyone's favourite.
"If you ever had a problem, he would be at your door in an instant. He was incredibly generous and really would do anything for anyone.
"His death had left a massive hole in our family and nothing will be the same again." Mrs Gration was at the scene when it happened and described her beloved cousin telling her thought he was going to die.
"It was like the scene of a massacre," she said. "Nothing can prepare you for something like that."
She said she worried Wilson would also want to hurt her. She said: "I kept seeing images of Jonathan Wilson glaring through my windows.
"I know that we will never find out why Jonathan Wilson did what he did and we will live the rest of our lives wondering why. In the case of Jimmy, it was something nobody could have predicted.
"His twin boys that are his world have to grow up without their dad." She said that Mr Britton's mum 'will often say that she’s in hell and Jimmy’s is in heaven, and she wants to be with him'.
She added: "It’s difficult to see how any of us can move on without the answers to the questions we have." Emily Britton is the wife of Mr Britton's brother, Terry Britton.
"Terry looked up to his brother," she said. "They were brothers, good friends and business partners."
She added: "Terry had lived with anger and guilt ever since. I know that if Terry had been at Etheringtons Lane he would have done anything he could to have stopped that van hitting him and would have stood in front of it himself to stop it hitting Jimmy.
"His body is full of anger and just felt numb. Jimmy’s death has ruined Terry’s and so many others' lives and one of the worst things of all is that we have no idea why this man did what he did."
Another relative, Jessica Edgoose, said: "We are all lost and hurting a pain that will never go away." She said she wanted answers from "that monster Wilson."
"That is something we will never get the answer to but I ask every day: why? Why did he do that?"
His Honour Judge Simon Hirst said the reason he experienced the psychotic episode was the prolonged use of cannabis. Wilson had used cannabis daily since he was 14-year-old.
While passing his sentence, Judge Hirst said to Wilson: "You chose, since the age of 14-years-old, to consume cannabis on a regular basis. It is well known that the use of cannabis can cause mental health issues."
Judge Hirst said the effects cannabis induced psychosis is not uncommon, but the effects can be "catastrophic."
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