This was written as a purging exercise because of the anger which still remains, I hoped it would help me to get out what I was feeling. As it is written is as it will stay, unedited, unspell checked not grammatically correct in instances, I have left it as it is, I do not want to change anything. http://archive.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/search?q=christopher+buck For anyone who wants to read the news print of the case. My I take a moment of your time to share my experience with you! My name is Jenny my partner is Stephen, and we have been together for over 20 years. Stephens mum is Barbara, who has three children, the elder being Stephen followed by Chris and the youngest is Nicola. In 2004 Barbara was a grieving widow of a 40-year marriage to Gerry, who sadly passed away before his time, shortly after their Ruby wedding anniversary. Over time life was slowly brightening for the family who still miss Gerry but the raw edges have been smoothed over and the memories now make us smile rather than dwell on the huge hole Gerry has left in our lives. In the winter of 2004-5 Barbara’s mum (big Nan) suffered a huge stroke. As she had always been the lynch pin of the family, the one we all turned to in times of need, she was such a feisty sole, this came as a bomb shell to the whole family. We were all taken aback by how the stroke had affected her. She still had all her fighting spirit and refused to take this laying down, but the stroke had robbed her of her speech and her mobility. She was eventually moved to a care home so she could receive 24-hour care, it was at this point the whole family virtually took up residence with her. What I and trying to say is that, she was the centre of everything our family stood for and we wanted her to know that we had not abandoned her. On many occasions she had room mates sleeping in the chairs in the room, this gave comfort to us and we hope to Nan too. As you can imagine when Nan passed away in July we were all wrung out emotionally and physically. Well after the brief introduction I hope you have an outline of the characters in this story. …………………………………………………. Do you remember what you were doing on the 26th October 2005? I don’t, but all that was about to change. I had finished work at lunchtime and had just arrived home when the phone rang, Stephen had called to tell me to turn the News on. The bulletin was of a Man found dead outside a town centre nightclub, hearing this and Stephen telling me on the phone that as far as we knew this was Chris, Stephen's younger brother was the beginning of a nightmare. I made my way to the family home in a daze, I don’t remember driving there just arriving to a scene of torment. The events that were relayed to me were this. On Wednesday 26th October Chris, had decided to go out for a drink, this was not unusual, only the fact that he chose to go into the city was different. Chris wasn’t one for staying out late and didn’t bother taking his key. Since Gerry passed away Chris had been a constant companion and knew Barbara would be awake to let him in. All through the night Barbara had been keeping an ear open for Chris coming home, when he still hadn’t arrived by the time she was to leave for work she was concerned to say the least. Barbara went to work but phoned Nicola who lives locally with her partner and 2 sons, she asked Nicola to call in at the house to make sure Chris had returned safely. At about 10.30 Nicola let herself into the house Barbara shared with Chris to find it empty, having checked all the rooms Nicola called Stephen at work and told him of the events since Chris had gone out and his subsequent disappearance. Stephen told Nicola to call the hospitals as it was so unlike Chris to stay out overnight, concern was starting to creep in. Nicola found the number of the hospital and called to ask if anyone fitting Chris’s description had been admitted, they took all the details and asked for her phone number and address and said they would check and get back to her. 20-30 minuets later the police walked down the path to the front door, this is when hell opened its doors on our lives. The police had issued a description of Chris, as he had no form of ID on him when he was taken to the police morgue. To identify him, the description was circulated around the hospitals to await the family’s contact looking for a lost relative. The officers were very good with Nicola and asked her to contact another family member so she was not on her own, having called Stephen it took him only a few minuets to arrive at his mums house to be greeted by a white and shaking Nicola and 2 police officers. It transpired that, he had been trying to get a drink in a nightclub. He was beginning to get louder at this point because he was having trouble being served at which he was not happy. It turned out that a Wednesday night is not supposed to be as busy as it was, the bar staff we rushed off their feet trying to keep up with the ever increasing demand to be served. Chris is not a small person and all we can assume is that they didn’t want any trouble from the big guy stood at the bar wanting a drink. The nightclub next door sent over spare bounces to assist with the growing unease, my only though is that they wanted Chris out in case a riot started at the bar, may I point out at this time that Chris was a gentle giant. However, during his hasty exit from the club, he was escorted by 3 bouncers who’s names will remain etched in our minds forever, but will not be referred to by name in this, my story of events. During the tussle Chris was expelled through the fire doors and ended up face down on the ground outside the club, narrowly missing passers by. One of the bouncers held him down with an arm around his neck, the other had a hold on Chris’s body and was punching him in the face, the third occasionally had hold of Chris’s legs, all this in plain view of passers by and the city CCTV operators who caught it all, as it started to unfolded at just before midnight on the 26th October. The ambulance was called, the crew were very efficient and started resuscitation immediately this lasted for over 15 minuets all to no avail, Chris was dead. I arrived at the family home in the early afternoon to a scene, which no one should have to witness. The tension in the air was tangible; we were made aware that there was a strong likely hood that the victim was Chris, but this would have to be confirmed by identification of the body by a family member after the post-mortem had finished. That afternoon was intolerable to bear and even worse to be a part of, there was nothing we could do, there was a need to talk but nothing to say, we didn’t have any answers to the questions which were crowding all out minds, we had no idea that pain can become so intense you feel as if you are going to choke on it. Stephen was eventually allowed to see Chris at about 7pm, it was him, no more doubt, no more hoping that he was still at a friends house and that he would come sauntering down the path and wonder what all the fuss was about, this was grim reality, Chris was no longer with us, he had gone, stolen, never to return, how do you come to terms with something like that, we didn’t know then and we still don’t know now. The police were very good, Linda, our liaison officer, who is only human like the rest of us, tried to answer some of the questions we had, they were very clinical answers as she had no further information and what she did know she was unable to impart to us due to the build up of evidence and the subsequent court case. When Chris had been taken by ambulance from the scene in front of the nightclub the doors to the club were locked and all the people questioned as to what they had seen, to my knowledge over 300 statements were taken that night. The three bouncers were each questioned and charged with manslaughter, they were then released on bail, to await the trial. The case was built on the evidence of the people closest to the event in the nightclub and the CCTV footage. The days after Chris’s murder now seem surreal and twisted like a cruel game being played out, the sense of loss was and still is enormous and almost too great to bear at times. But we are a family and a strong one at that; we had kept a daily vigil at Barbara’s side to ease the loneliness, Barbara could be seen walking from room to room in a world of her own. I have a son and the thought that anything bad could happen to him puts me in a cold sweat, god only knows what was going through her mind. The days ticked along with regular visits from Linda who came to offer support and advice as and when needed, occasionally her superior Paul Kennedy, or Adam, who was compiling the evidence, which would eventually be used in court, would accompany her. On one visit, which had been arranged prior to their arrival, they had the CCTV footage to show us, this may seem strange but they wanted us to see it first before it was shown in court. We sat in the lounge, all gripping the person next to us and stole ourselves for what we were about to see. The footage starts in the night club with Chris with his back to the camera, stood at the bar waiting to be served, the video has no sound and is in black and white and seems to be a series of stills put together to make the short clip. The bouncers can be seen standing at either side of Chris, who is then moved away from the bar and escorted towards the door, at this point the CCTV footage takes over the events. The quality of the city CCTV is very clear and just like watching TV; the only difference is that we are watching a programme we had not chosen, the events of which would lead to Chris’s death. Thankfully, there is a low wall outside the night club fire exit which hides Chris’s face, the bouncers can be seen holding Chris down tightly to prevent him from gaining his feet, all this time he is also receiving punches to the head and side of his face by the second bouncer. Occasionally the third bouncer who turned out to be the manager of the bouncers can be seen holding Chris’s legs still to stop him kicking out, why didn’t they realise at that time that Chris wasn’t fighting back he was fighting for his own survival, his life. The footage was and still is one of the hardest things I personally have had to be a part of, the evidence for the court case was mounting, the only thing we could do now for Chris was to fight his corner and give him a decent funeral. It was six weeks before we were able to put Chris’s body to rest, we all said our good byes in our own way at the chapel of rest and prepared his funeral, at the age of 39 Chris as a physical presence is no more, although we feel his presence among us and take comfort from that. At the beginning of December, Bradford town hall opens its doors for the Christmas star appeal, which raises money for charity each year. The organiser of the Christmas star appeal sent a photographer to see Barbara as they wanted to run the story of the family tragedy alongside the star appeal. We had our photo taken which appeared in the paper along with a brief statement made by all of us, Barbara’s grand children by Nicola were in the picture, I haven’t mentioned too much about them as we had to take each day at a time with them as such young minds are fragile and we didn’t want to scar them with too much information, just enough so they didn’t think we were keeping secrets, even though something’s are best left unsaid. The idea is to decorate the main Christmas tree inside the town hall with stars which have been dedicated to lost loved ones, Barbara started to attend this service after she lost Gerry and it seemed all the more poignant now as we added big Nan and Chris to the list. All this was before we had laid Chris to rest and at the time was painful; now looking back it is a source of comfort to remember the day and how special it was. The funeral was held on the 16th December 2005 at St Stephens’s church. The hearse carrying Chris on his final journey arrived outside the family home followed by the funeral car that was to take the immediate family to the church. The road was lined with people who’s faces are all a blur, we all looked at each other trying to make some sense of what we had to do, the look on Barbara’s face that day will haunt me for the rest of my life, I could see into her sole and the void which remained, how much grief is one person to endure in a lifetime. We followed the hearse on its journey at a respectably slow speed; all the way people were standing to offer sympathy and support, too many people to count. Outside the church Chris’s coffin was taken from the hearse by six bearers, one of them being Stephen who needed to do this last thing in Chris’s honour, to support the brother he had loved and lost in such cruel circumstances. The church I am told was full, I didn’t notice, as it was like having tunnel vision all I focused on was Chris coffin in the centre of the isle draped in flowers and cards of love. The service as I remember it was well thought out by the Vicar, he had been to visit us prior to the service to find out who Chris was, he obviously took in everything we had to say as he spoke so warmly of Chris you would have sworn he knew him. Chris was again safely tucked into the hearse for the journey to the cemetery, on arrival it was like the parting of the waves as people parted to allow the coffin through, I am still staggered by the support shown that day. After a short prayer Chris was lowered into his final resting place, this was a spot chosen so he would be close to Nan who’s ashes were just a few yards away. Family flowers were thrown into the grave at which point we all said our last good bye and went to see Nan and leave one of Chris flowers on her grave. We went to our local club for the obligatory send off, funnily enough It was a good day as old memories were revisited and stories flew, I even found my laughter again that day as funny stories were recounted to people who had heard them before and managed to laugh anew. I think we felt better for saying goodbye properly and not constantly being aware that Chris was laying in a freezer somewhere being used as evidence. The 19th December was to have been Christopher’s 40th birthday, being only 3 days after the funeral this was a very sad time for us. It was suggested that we go out for a meal and celebrate Chris birthday but this never came to anything, it was still too raw and tender a subject to touch. Personally, Stephen and myself didn’t have a Christmas that year, we had Christmas lunch at my mums as I had no interest in the festive season, and Barbara spent the day with Nicola and her young family, the boys Jordan and Ryan were wrapped up with all the magic only Christmas can bring to a child, this to a great extent helped Barbara to get through the day. The court date was supposed to be set in May but as the majority of the witnesses were students and May was to be the summer holiday the trial was postponed until the 17th July. 2006 was the year of the continued heat wave, as the date approached we had a feeling of anticipation, this will be the time Chris was to be recognised as a victim of murder and the murderers were to be punished for the crime. The morning of Monday 17th July arrived with much anxiety and trepidation; today we were to meet the three defendants face to face. Things do not happen quickly in crown court, it took a full morning to swear the jury in, then we had to break for lunch. I haven’t said how our first view of the defendants went ,but I’m sure you can imagine it was not a comfortable encounter. The courtroom we were assigned had 16 seats in the gallery, which meant that only 4 people from all 4 families involved were able to enter court at any one time, you can imagine the whole family wanted to be there, so any one not able to be in court was able to sit in a room which had been set aside for our use. The case, commenced throughout the week with the prosecution witnesses being called one after another, the police who arrived on scene shortly before the ambulance gave statements, the passers-by gave there version of events. It was then to be the turn of the coroners. The coroner representing Chris and each of the defendants coroners were to give their evidence, which was 3-1 in favour of suffocation caused by strangulation. The coroner who disagreed with the other 3 said Chris had a heart attack. As the end of the first week was almost at an end, the coroners were due to give their evidence, the coroner who thought Chris had a heart attack had a heart attack himself and was therefore unable to attend court. It was decided that over the weekend the 3 coroners who agreed with the same cause of death would have there findings sent to the coroner who was in hospital recovering, with the permission of the doctors in charge and the coroners wife go through the differing evidence to see if he would change his mind which would enable the case to continue as all the coroners would be in agreement. This was not to be and he stuck to his guns. The trial was subsequently closed to be re opened in February 2007 at which time the coroner should have made a full recovery and be able to offer his evidence. The police kept in touch and life started to have some sort of routine to it, during the months we were kept waiting, our emotions went from pain and sorrow to anger and frustration. It was 16 months after Chris’s death before the 3 defendants would appear in court. The first trial had taken its toll on me and Stephen thought it best I stay away the second time this was supposed to help me but all it did was make me fret over how Stephen was coping. On the first day and to our surprise, the news of the coroner’s death was announced; therefore his evidence was to be read out in court, as it was still relevant to the case. The days during the trial I spent at work trying not to think of how my family was coping, at least I was able to pick up the pieces when I got home after Stephen had had a harrowing day in court. We found comfort in talking it through, this allowed him to purge all the days events from his system and to hopefully allow him to get some much needed sleep. The new jury was sworn in, the witness’s were called, the police and coroners all gave their evidence, I can only speculate on what was said as I was not present, but all seemed to be progressing and hopefully the trial would be over soon. The second week started and the 3 defendants gave evidence along with their witnesses. Stephen has said throughout that all the evidence was clear, the video was shown on many occasions and things pointed out to the jury, all the ground work carried out by the police was faultless and concise, all 4 barristers gave their summing up to the jury, then came the judges turn to have his say. The charges against the defendants was manslaughter, the judge said if you have any doubt they can not be found guilty. The jury retired on Wednesday afternoon of the second week, they had all the evidence to review, the video was played if they needed to watch it again, the jury remained in discussion until Friday, just after lunch. Friday afternoon had arrived, I had just finished lunch and for once when the phone rang I wasn’t expecting it to be Stephen, the jury was back in…he said he would call me when he came back out of court to tell me what had happened. Now I was on edge, the jury had been out for 2 days in total, what had taken them so long, what did they have to deliberate. The phone rang, I answered it, I heard Stephens voice, it sounded like he was underwater, the words he was saying didn’t make any sense to me. NOT GUILTY. The jury had come back with a verdict of not guilty, how! Why! This can’t be happening. But it has happened, they have been found not guilty. Chris is still dead he’s not going to get up now they have been found not guilty and continue with their lives, our chance of growing old with Chris as a part of the family have been stolen and cant be replaced. He wouldn’t have died if they had let him go after leaving the club. Jordan and Ryan sleep with either their parents or Nan (Barbara) they fear bad men, what do we say to them as they peer round every corner waiting for the boogie man to grab them, well it happened to Chris he was big enough to stick up for himself what chance do 2 small boys have. to any of you kind people who have taken the time to read my account, all I can say to you is that this is not fiction and there is no happy ever after, this is fact and we are now left with no other avenue to take other than private prosecution, which will cause more heart ache and prolong the healing process. But then I look at Barbara who is now a shadow of her former feisty self who cannot come to terms of having her son taken from her and have no justice to be thankful for, what do we do? What can we do? Nothing will bring back Christopher Buck. Thank you for sharing my story.