A 32-year-old British man is accused of killing a pensioner with an axe after meeting him at a spa on a cycling trip. Prosecutors in Finland are demanding a ten-year prison sentence for murder after the British man, who has not been named, allegedly attacked the 75-year-old with an axe as he lay in bed. His defence team deny murder, and say he acted in self-defence after the pensioner allegedly raped the British man.
The court heard that the two men met at the Härmä spa in the town of Kauhava on July 27 while the Briton was on a cycling trip in the country, going on to spend the night at a hotel together. The next day, they travelled to the pensioner's hometown of Seinäjoki and visited a shopping centre, before going back to his house that evening. The prosecutor claims that in the early hours of the next day, the British man struck the 75-year-old six times with an axe while he was in bed. He was found dead two weeks later after his concerned family called emergency services, reported Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.
Police quickly traced him after the discovery of the body, but it was feared he may have fled Finland. Prosecutors claim he fled the scene in the pensioner's car, which was found in a ditch outside the town of Kyyjärvi. The man was arrested on August 17 in a flat in Eastern Finland. The British man claimed to investigators that the pensioner had "made it clear" to him on the evening that he expected sexual favours after buying him a new mobile phone at the shopping centre, but that he had refused and decided to go for a nap instead. In court, he claimed he then awoke to find himself "tied up with bandages", and was allegedly raped.
He told the court: "The ordeal was horrible. When it was over, he rolled over next to me. Then he started snoring and I decided to escape. I went to the kitchen and cut my ties there". The British man alleged the pensioner followed him and stood in the door with an axe, telling him that no one would believe him if he rang the police. He told the court that he then grabbed hold of the axe and struck his victim twice, and said: "I had no choice but to defend myself. It was either him or me. The first blow was when I intended to hit him, but not to kill him. I slipped and the axe slipped from my hand.".
In the weeks that followed, the 32-year-old is alleged to have searched online for news about the incident, even before the pensioner's body had been found. Local media said he appeared calm as he appeared South Ostrobothnia District Court on Tuesday morning, and held a piece of paper in his hand. He is reported to have admitted killing the man last year, but denies murder. The court has ordered a mental health examination before his trial resumes.
