Soldier walks free from court after death in Norwich
A soldier accused of killing a man in Norwich's nightclub district has walked free from court today after a judge imposed a suspended sentence.
A soldier accused of killing a man in Norwich's nightclub district has walked free from court today after a judge imposed a suspended sentence.
Daniel Gooda, who was yesterday cleared of manslaughter and common assault but found guilty of affray, will fly out to Afghanistan next week after his Honour Judge Leonard QC sentenced him to 28 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months.
Norwich Crown Court had heard that Gooda's special skills - which include speaking an Afghan language - were important to the army's work in the war-torn country and that he was booked on a plane to Afghanistan on Thursday
As previously reported, the jury took less than four hours to find Gooda not guilty of the manslaughter of Timothy Moore, 30, a father-of-two from Templemere in Norwich.
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The jury of five women and seven men also found Gooda not guilty of common assault, a charge which related to an alleged attack on a police officer while he was being treated for an injury at the James Paget University Hospital, but returned a guilty verdict on the second charge of affray.
Gooda, a Household Cavalry trooper, who is based at Combermere Barracks, Windsor, but is from the Norwich area, had denied all three charges.
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During the two-week trial Gooda said he accepted that he had punched Mr Moore but he had said he acted to protect his friend Jason Brookes during a night out in Norwich.
