Czech minister to raise Zdenek Makar death case with Boris Johnson

Updated

The Czech foreign minister plans to raise the death of one of his countrymen in a street attack in Britain when he meets Boris Johnson at a summit.

Lubomir Zaoralek will speak with the Foreign Secretary on Wednesday in Brussels, his spokeswoman said, after Briton Raymond Sculley was acquitted over the death of Zdenek Makar.

Sculley was accused of beating the popular catering manager to death with a bicycle lock after their paths briefly crossed at a chicken shop in east London on the evening of September 21 last year.

He was cleared by a jury of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter on Monday at the Old Bailey after saying he acted in self defence.

Mr Zaoralek met with British ambassador to the Czech Republic Jan Thompson on Tuesday to speak about the case.

A spokeswoman for Mr Zaoralek said he "of course realises that it is a decision of the independent British court that should be respected" but expressed disappointment at the outcome.

She said the minister raised the points that the victim, known as Zed, had lived "decently" in the UK for a decade and it was accepted "according to the court's ruling the British citizen behaved in self-defence, which means that the (incident) was recognised to happen".

She added: "The minster told the ambassador today that he calls on the British justice (system) to use all the procedural means that the national British legal order makes available and bring this case to the revision procedure."

As the defendant was cleared by a jury, there cannot be a retrial under the British legal system unless new evidence comes to light.

During the trial, jurors had heard Mr Makar, 31, worked at the Royal Institute of British Architects and was on his way home from drinks with colleagues when Sculley attacked him.

Sculley had spent the evening playing video games, smoking cannabis and chatting with friends before he went to Perfect Chicken in East India Dock Road just as Mr Makar arrived.

Seeing their bicycles strewn on the pavement outside, Mr Makar allegedly joked to one of Sculley's friends: "What's this? A bike gang?"

It led to a minor spat with the youth inside the chicken shop before Sculley stepped in and put Mr Makar into a "quasi-headlock", jurors heard.

Sculley, wearing paint-splattered work clothes, was seen on CCTV footage acting aggressively towards the suited hospitality manager, who was trying to calm the situation, the court heard.

As Mr Makar continued on his way, the defendant and his friends followed on bikes, the court heard.

Mr Sculley removed a bicycle lock, a heavy metal chain attached to a solid locking end that he took from his own bike, and approached Mr Makar, the court heard, striking him and knocking him to the ground.

As Mr Makar lay dying in the street, Sculley stood over him and allegedly said: "Look what you made me do."

Another passing cyclist saw the end of the attack and dialled 999 as residents rushed to help but Mr Makar was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Two days later, two of Sculley's friends went to police to report him for the attack.

The same day, Sculley handed himself in saying he felt "destroyed" and "like I've destroyed potential lives and future careers".

Giving evidence, Sculley denied murdering Mr Makar, claiming he did not intend to kill him and was acting in self defence.

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