Predictive Text Error Leads to Fatal Stabbing

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Predictive Text Error Leads to Fatal Stabbing


A U.K. man has been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing his friend to death after a predictive text error ballooned into an argument and ultimately a vicious knife attack.

33-year-old Neil Brook and his neighbor, 27-year-old Josef Witkowski, had known each other for about six months before getting into a beef over a text message misunderstanding. Brook told police he'd sent Witkowski a text message asking "What are you on about mutter?", "mutter" being "a local colloquialism for a person who behaves in an antisocial or vulgar manner." But thanks to the predictive text on his phone, "mutter" was corrected to "nutter," a slang term meaning "deranged."

Witkowski apparently took offense at this, leading to an exchange of increasingly heated and hostile messages. Finally, Witkowski decided he'd had enough and went to pay Brook a visit. Brook sensed that trouble was in the offing, however, or maybe his idiot friend told him he was coming to get him; whatever the case, Brook taped a large kitchen knife to the back of his front door and stashed another one near his bathroom.

Brook claimed that Witkowski attacked him with a knife when he arrived, so he grabbed the knife taped to the door and stabbed him in the leg. That probably would have added up to an easy claim of self defense had it ended there, but when Witkowski fled to the bathroom, Brook followed him and kept up the attack, eventually killing him with a blow to his heart. The court was told that Witkowski suffered 104 injuries, including stab wounds, cuts, bruises and slice marks on his hands.

The jury cleared Brook of murder charges but convicted him of manslaughter. Nonetheless, he's looking at serious time; Judge Michael Henshell said, "Obviously, the sentence will be a long one."

Sources: News.com.au [http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/boltonnews/8841133.Text_row_man_faces_jail_for_killing_friend/]

(photo [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiwanja/3170278722/])


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Elementlmage

New member
Aug 14, 2009
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Natdaprat said:
So this is in the escapist news because it involved technology? Oh okay.
Since when has the Escapist been tech exclusive? From all the things I have seen on this site, the staff seems to enjoy crazy social happenings(and posts just as frequently about) just as much as video games, tech, and nerd culture?
 

adderseal

New member
Nov 20, 2009
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Jesus fuck that's stupid.
Especially as there is almost no difference between either word in terms of insult value. They are really mild words.
106 inuries, then he followed him up the stairs to finish him off? Fuck manslaughter, that's cold-blooded murder.
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
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So one mildly insulting colloquialism gets you killed while another equally mid colloquialism doesn't.

Makes sense.
 

Daemascus

WAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!
Mar 6, 2010
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Andy Chalk said:
Predictive Text Error Leads to Fatal Stabbing

The court was told that Witkowski suffered 104 injuries, including stab wounds, cuts, bruises and slice marks on his hands.
Im thinking theres more here than a text misunderstanding...
 

Cap'n Ninja

Magnificent Malefactor
Jan 16, 2011
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This feels doubly poignant for me because I'm posting this via crappy phone-o-vision.

EDIT: *me. Not of.
Ducking T9...
 

obijino

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Nov 27, 2009
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Brotherofwill said:
obijino said:
Get this off the escapist, if i want to read this kinda crap i'll go buy The Sun!
Yeah man, these kind of "news" are a waste on this site.
I've visited this site every day for years, and this is the first thing i've ever felt the need to comment on.
Shame really =(
 

RedEyesBlackGamer

The Killjoy Detective returns!
Jan 23, 2011
4,701
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Looking at the definitions....really? Is there that much difference? And 104 wounds including chasing the other guy down? That is murder.
And to the people complaining: They can post any damn thing they want to on their site.
 

archvile93

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Sep 2, 2009
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I'm not conviced this would have been avoided if not for the software. Is being called a mutter really that much better than a nutter? When I first read the title, I thought the text might have been translated to, "stab them. Stab them all.'