Airgun man's appeal fails

12:24pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008

A MELANCHOLY Kidderminster man who loosed off shots from an air pistol after slashing his wrists has failed in a bid to clear his name - despite his wife urging top judges to show him mercy and end his "nightmare".

Malcolm Ian Edwards, 53, sat at the front of London's Appeal Court flanked by his wife, Glynis, as she presented his case to three of the nation's most senior judges - Lord Justice Richards, Mr Justice Goldring and Mr Justice Akenhead.

She argued her husband, who received an eight-month suspended sentence over the airgun incident, had been dealt with far too harshly.

It was not in the public interest for him to have been dragged through the courts, she told the judges, adding that he was now unjustly "branded a criminal".

Edwards sat quietly as his wife spoke on his behalf. Before she sat down, she concluded: "We feel that the true facts have slipped through the net, resulting in our worst nightmare."

Mr Justice Goldring said the case stemmed from an episode in August, 2006, when an ambulance was called to the couple's home after Edwards - who was suffering from acute depression at the time - took a "quantity of tablets" and cut his wrists.

Police officers were called out by the ambulance crew, said the judge, adding that the prosecution claimed Edwards fired an air pistol two or three times in the vicinity of the house.

One pellet was said to have struck one of the officers, according to the prosecution, although Edwards claimed there was no independent evidence to support this claim.

Edwards, of Shanklyn Lane, Summerfield, received his suspended sentence after admitting affray at Worcester Crown Court in November, 2006.

His case reached the Appeal Court today as he unsuccessfully applied for permission to challenge his conviction - despite the guilty plea.

He and his wife claimed he was denied an adequate defence and put under pressure to plead guilty, also asserting that he should never have been prosecuted in the first place.

But Mr Justice Goldring said he had to approach the case purely on the "legal position" - whatever his sympathy for Edwards's plight.

His appeal had "no prospect of success", the judge ruled. "It may be in his long-term interests now if he can put this behind him and try to move on," the judgte concluded, before Edwards and his wife left court.