The family of a shopkeeper stabbed to death in a botched robbery have expressed their 'shame and sadness' after his killer was acquitted of murder, despite graphic CCTV footage of the moment a knife was plunged into his throat.
Father-of-two Mahesh Wickramasingha was stabbed to death in a struggle with Sam Harrison, 19, after he attempted to foil a hold-up on his store in Huyton, Liverpool.
Harrison's ten-inch knife severed the Sri Lankan-born 30-year-old's jugular vein, stopping only when the blade struck his spine.
Graphic: The footage seems to show Harrison, in black, walk into Stanley News, in Kingsway and
plunge the weapon into Mr Wickramasingha's throat after a brief struggle
But a jury at Liverpool Crown Court accepted the teenager’s account that the killing was an 'accident' and agreed to a manslaughter charge after he insisted his victim had 'impaled himself' on the weapon.
He was jailed for ten years, which means he could be out in just over four.
Today Mr Wickramasingha's relatives hit out at the verdict, claiming graphic CCTV footage proves it was murder and that Harrison should be jailed for life.
Speaking from Sri Lanka, his brother Manjula said: 'It should have been murder - nobody has given us correct justice for our loss.
'We feel shame and sadness. I am out of mind and my mother is crying.
'We look at the photo of Mahesh and into his eyes, and think about how Harrison has broken our family. Mahesh went to the UK to earn money, not to die.'
Brave: Father-of-two Mahesh Wickramasingha, left, was stabbed to death in the struggle with Sam Harrison, right, after he attempted to foil a robbery on his store in Huyton, Liverpool
The eight-second CCTV footage, taken at three frames per second, seems to show Harrison walk into Stanley News, in Kingsway, on November 29, and plunge the weapon into Mahesh’s throat after a brief struggle.
Today, Mahesh’s family, friends and the city campaign group Families Fighting for Justice demanded the case be reviewed.
Mahesh had worked in Liverpool for a year after pawning his few belongings to buy his passage from Sri Lanka.
He had a dream of earning enough money to educate his son Wenura, four, and daughter, Indika, 10, and build a home for his wife Dilmi, 28.
But his life was ended when Harrison targeted the small shop in the hope of robbing a till to recoup some of the £530 he had blown in a nearby bookies.
Father-of-two Mahesh Wickramasingha was stabbed to death in a struggle with Sam Harrison, 19, after he attempted to foil a hold-up on his store in Huyton, Liverpool.
Harrison's ten-inch knife severed the Sri Lankan-born 30-year-old's jugular vein, stopping only when the blade struck his spine.
Graphic: The footage seems to show Harrison, in black, walk into Stanley News, in Kingsway and
plunge the weapon into Mr Wickramasingha's throat after a brief struggle
But a jury at Liverpool Crown Court accepted the teenager’s account that the killing was an 'accident' and agreed to a manslaughter charge after he insisted his victim had 'impaled himself' on the weapon.
He was jailed for ten years, which means he could be out in just over four.
Today Mr Wickramasingha's relatives hit out at the verdict, claiming graphic CCTV footage proves it was murder and that Harrison should be jailed for life.
Speaking from Sri Lanka, his brother Manjula said: 'It should have been murder - nobody has given us correct justice for our loss.
'We feel shame and sadness. I am out of mind and my mother is crying.
'We look at the photo of Mahesh and into his eyes, and think about how Harrison has broken our family. Mahesh went to the UK to earn money, not to die.'
Brave: Father-of-two Mahesh Wickramasingha, left, was stabbed to death in the struggle with Sam Harrison, right, after he attempted to foil a robbery on his store in Huyton, Liverpool
The eight-second CCTV footage, taken at three frames per second, seems to show Harrison walk into Stanley News, in Kingsway, on November 29, and plunge the weapon into Mahesh’s throat after a brief struggle.
Today, Mahesh’s family, friends and the city campaign group Families Fighting for Justice demanded the case be reviewed.
Mahesh had worked in Liverpool for a year after pawning his few belongings to buy his passage from Sri Lanka.
He had a dream of earning enough money to educate his son Wenura, four, and daughter, Indika, 10, and build a home for his wife Dilmi, 28.
But his life was ended when Harrison targeted the small shop in the hope of robbing a till to recoup some of the £530 he had blown in a nearby bookies.
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. මේවගේ දේවල් ඇති තරම් වෙන රටවලත් ඉන්නවා. ඇයි බං පොඩි දෙමල කෙල්ලෙක්ට Lodon වලදී වෙඩි තියල මැරුවේ ඔයවගේම corner shop එකක තමා. සමහර area තියෙනවා මචන් charter. හැමතැන එහෙම නෑ. Liverpool , Bristol දාන්න තරමින් හොදටම racist පැති 
