A man who denies the manslaughter of his next door neighbour after a fight teared up as he told a jury he delivered one punch and it was "to protect myself". Wearing a smart suit in the witness stand at Nottingham Crown Court, Arthur Cabourn became emotional as he described at his trial events on the morning of August 11 last year when he was about to leave for work.
CCTV captured their movements just before the tragedy. Next door neighbour Alan Youd, 69, hit the ground during the fight and never regained consciousness. The footage did not capture the alleged fight - but showed both men beforehand near their homes in Chestnut Drive, Shirebrook.
Cabourn, who had started the engine of his red Land Rover Discovery, claimed father-of-two Mr Youd was 'effing and jeffing' (meaning to swear), saying something about Cabourn's son. "I don't know why he had come out," Cabourn said to the jury. "I just ignored him and went to my car. All I said to him was, 'you need to see a psychiatrist'.
READ MORE: Pensioner's injuries after fight left him unconscious and dying, jury told
"He has done it before; he goes to his gate and says summat [something]. He just decided he wasn't getting a response and, maybe, he wanted to try and get a better response. The only words I said were, 'he needed to see a psychiatrist'. He has got a problem".
Cabourn got in his car but he told the jury: "Something just said, 'you need to sort this out'. Cabourn admitted there was a history between him and Mr Youd. Steven Bailey, prosecuting, asked on Friday (August 19): "Wasn't it really just six of one and half a dozen of the other?"
Cabourn replied: "No, he was a pain in the ****". When Mr Bailey asked Cabourn if he (Cabourn) was a "pain in the ****?" - the defendant replied: "No, I went to work every day. I provided for my family".
Cabourn, 60, now of Chesterfield Road, Clay Cross, claimed Mr Youd came at him, then sped up and lunged at him. Cabourn stated Mr Youd threw two punches and lifted him up against his car, with his back to his wing mirror.
At one point in the scuffle, Mr Youd got on top of Cabourn, and the two of them were rolling around. Cabourn said he did what he had to do, what he thought was right to protect himself, claiming that it was Mr Youd who came at him. He said: "I have just got to live with this for the rest of my life".
Later, in his evidence, he said: "He has died. I have got to live with this for the rest of my life. All it was was one punch and it was to protect myself".
Mr Youd sustained injuries to his face and elsewhere in the struggle which involved grappling and punching, the jury had heard. During the course of this, he hit his head on a hard surface, causing bleeding and swelling in his brain which eventually proved fatal.
The trial continues on Monday (August 22).
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