I'd do it again, says man who used Samurai sword to protect family

A FATHER prosecuted for severing the ear of a man when he struck him with a Samurai sword after he threatened his family has said he would do it all again.

Builder David Fullard, 47, of Wold View, Brough, was cleared by a jury of unlawful wounding after they heard he was trying to protect his home.

But despite walking free from court, the father-of-two says he is unhappy with the suspended jail terms given to the two men who targeted his East Yorkshire home in the early evening of March 6, last year.

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Michael Severs, 22, and Michael Smith, 19, were both given six-month suspended sentences and ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work at Hull Crown Court yesterday after being convicted of affray. The court had earlier been told the pair had gone to Mr Fullard's house to demand money.

Mr Fullard said he had acted to protect his family and home when he struck Severs with the sword in a blow which left the 22-year-old's ear hanging off.

Severs was armed with a spade and a knuckle duster and both were said to have made threat.

The builder was arrested after he contacted the police while Severs had his ear re-attached in hospital and was later arrested and charged.

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Prosecutors argued Fullard had gone too far and that his use of a Samurai sword was over the top.

Defending him, Mark Bury told the court his client had acted to protect his home in an extreme situation.

A jury found the 47-year-old not guilty after a five-day trial in September last year which could not be reported until now following the end of Severs' and Smith's hearing yesterday.

Mr Fullard said he was unhappy with the pair's sentence. "I was disappointed with the level of what they got after what they had put my family through for the past year. I think it's just a slap on the wrist."

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Commenting on his being cleared of wounding with intent, he said: "When I walked out of there it was unbelievable when you'd heard the words 'not guilty.' You just can't describe it."

He vowed he would do the same again to protect his family.

"I was trying to protect them from these men. We believed they were really going to hurt us, " he added.

"I wouldn't think twice about doing it again to protect my family."

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