Manslaughter plea accepted in decapitation case

Phil Smith, Partner at Tuckers, assisted by Henrietta Ronson and instructed Counsel Alex Cameron QC and Louise Sweet, were privately instructed to represent James Richardson in his defence to an allegation of murder, in circumstances where a bread knife was used in a sawing action in an apparent attempt to decapitate his girlfriend, Natalia Czekaj.

After representations by his defence team, the prosecution accepted a plea of manslaughter after a medical evidence confirmed a diagnosis of alcohol dependency syndrome.

This unusual case has been widely reported in the media.