Rochdale man jailed after letterbox urine row killing

Michael Williams

A householder who stabbed another man to death after catching him urinating through his letterbox has been jailed for five years.

Anthony Kershaw, 25, died a day after being attacked at the home of Michael Williams in Rochdale, in April.

Williams "flipped" after a previous attack at his home on the Smallbridge estate, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 53-year-old, described as a "good neighbour", admitted manslaughter at a hearing on Friday 8 October.

Williams heard a bang on the front door of his ground-floor flat on Monday 19 April and went to investigate, to be greeted with the sight of urine pouring through the letterbox, he told police.

He grabbed a knife from his kitchen and, as Mr Kershaw urinated, swung open the door and stabbed him in the stomach.

Williams then closed the door, threw the knife into the kitchen sink and dialled 999 as friends of Mr Kershaw smashed his windows and threatened to "burn him alive" inside his flat.

Mr Kershaw was taken to hospital but died from his injuries shortly before 11am the following day.

Senior Investigating Officer Vinny Chadwick, from the Major Investigation Team, said: "This is an extremely sad situation for everybody involved.

"Anthony's death has left a family bereft and his little boy will grow up not knowing his father.

"Williams will no doubt live the rest of his life regretting his actions that night and this case is another example of why people should not take the law into their own hands."

The court heard that the estate had been plagued by anti-social behaviour and residents were too frightened to go out at night because of a gang of teenagers terrorising the estate in Rochdale.

People would drink and take drugs in communal areas and stairwells, and would be "extremely abusive" to residents.