`We're going through hell'

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Saturday 1st Mar 2003.

A MAN who claimed he acted in self-defence when he stabbed a Canadian backpacker has appealed against his conviction for murder.

Richard Gooden, 35, from Rushey Platt, Swindon, is asking that the charge be downgraded to manslaughter.

The Swindon-based Gooden family now faces an anxious wait to find out whether the Court of Appeal upholds the challenge.

It could take weeks or several months.

Richard's mother Gersha Gooden, 54, said: "We are going through hell.

"I saw Richard on Monday, he is disgusted and he's disappointed. He's basically gutted.

"We are just waiting to see what is the next step."

Gooden's conviction stems from an incident in July, 2000.

He was walking home from a nightclub in Brixton, South London, with a friend when the pair were approached by Can-adian backpacker Stephane Depuis and two other men.

A confrontation ensued because Mr Depuis and his friends were convinced that Gooden had mugged them earlier in the evening.

CCTV footage would later prove the allegation to be false.

Gooden and Mr Depuis ended up having a fight and the Canadian man was fatally stabbed.

Gooden has always maintained that he acted in self-defence.

He was convicted of murder in April 2001 but freed from jail after a year over a legal technicality.

A second trial led to him being convicted again in February this year.

Mrs Gooden said: "Going by what has happened I'm not confident at all.

"I've lost all feelings for the justice system."

The Gooden family plans to use the example of the Mathew Hornsby murder trial in Swindon to get the murder charge downgraded to man-slaughter. In that case, 19-year-old Michael Ephgrave was convicted of killing the Freshbrook 18-year-old with a chisel, but had the murder charge reduced to manslaughter.

The Gooden's are also hoping to engage the services of a new lawyer and have written to Imran Khan who represented the family of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The family believes the fact that Gooden is black and Stephane Depuis was white contributed to his being convicted of murder.

Richard Gooden's sister-in-law Patricia, 34, said: "We are still fighting and we are not going to let him rot in there.

"We are going to keep going on until we get some sort of answer on this.

"Richard is still really shocked, he is going through 10,000 things in his head on where they have gone wrong.

"He's still got fight left in him. He sees his chances as strong.

"He believes in God and he believes that God will work it out in the end."

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