Petition to clear man over murder of burglar

Omari Roberts, 23, was charged after he allegedly stabbed 17-year-old Tyler Juett during a confrontation at his mother's Nottingham home in March last year.

Yesterday, Jacqueline McKenzie-Johnson, 47, asked people to sign an online petition demanding the murder charge against her son be dropped.

Mrs McKenzie-Johnson, a manager with Nottingham City Council, said: "The charge my son faces is outrageous.

"My understanding of reasonable force, of what the law says, doesn't tally with what the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) says and so I'm confused.

"I don't know why the CPS has come up with this ludicrous and ridiculous charge.

"I know it is tragic a young person has lost his life. But it could have been my son and if it wasn't for his actions it would've been my son."

She added: "We want the law to be clarified and I want to try and get the charges dropped.

"The CPS reason for bringing the charge was that gratuitous force was used. But when I looked in the dictionary it said gratuitous was unnecessary.

"How can the CPS say it is unreasonable to confront somebody threatening your life."

Roberts, an apprentice builder, is due to face trial in April charged with murdering Juett and wounding a 14-year-old accomplice.

He is accused of attacking Juett and another youngster during a lunchtime visit to the house, when he allegedly caught them ransacking his family's belongings.

About 40 people attended the launch of the petition yesterday.