Teacher Stabbed to Death by Burglar
By David Stringer and Nick Allen, Crime Correspondent, PA News
A school teacher was stabbed to death in a violent struggle with a burglar as his family and other relatives slept upstairs in his £1 million home, detectives said tonight.
Robert Norman Symons, 45, was attempting to protect his family when he suffered a single fatal wound in the fight with the intruder.
Mr Symons had rushed downstairs to tackle the burglar at around 4.30am. Moments later he was found in a pool of blood by his wife.
Police said the teacher’s two-year-old and five-year-old daughters and other relatives were asleep upstairs in the three-storey Edwardian house in Airedale Avenue, an upmarket area of Chiswick, west London.
A police source said: “This man was trying to protect his home and his loved ones.”
Mr Symons’ wife, Linda Davies, thought to be a photographer, called an ambulance and the teacher was taken to Charing Cross hospital where he died from his injuries.
Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murphy, leading the inquiry, said: “His wife and family have witnessed a horrific crime.
“Shortly after 4.30am at the address at 38 Airedale Avenue, Mr Symons and his wife heard a noise in the kitchen.
“He went downstairs to investigate and we think it’s quite likely that Mr Symons disturbed an intruder and a fight broke out with a burglar or burglars.
“This appears to have been a burglary gone wrong.”
He said officers were speaking to the family and confirmed that a number of Mr Symons’s relatives were staying at the house at the time of his murder.
Mr Murphy said the struggle took place inside the house and added that it was moments after the break-in, before the intruder had a chance to take anything.
He said Mr Symons’s wife heard the commotion and came downstairs to find her husband fatally wounded.
It is thought she may have seen her husband stabbed or glimpsed the killer and any accomplice flee the house.
“The front door was ajar as his wife came downstairs and she saw it swing shut, we do not know if she witnessed the attack and she is now with officers and is very distressed,” said Mr Murphy.
He said detectives were working to establish if any Mr Symons’s children witnessed their father’s death.
Mr Murphy warned homeowners about confronting intruders and said: “If a person hears someone in their home and they’re near a phone our advice is to call the police, but people have to react to the circumstances they are in.”
Officers spent the day scouring gardens, gutters and rubbish bins, removing a number of items for forensic examination along the tree-lined avenue, but Mr Murphy said it is not yet known if the murder weapon has been found.
He said efforts were continuing to trace a suspect seen leaving the house who was captured on local CCTV and described as white, wearing a light-coloured short-sleeved shirt.
It is though the killer may have had an accomplice and detectives have conducted extensive house-to-house inquiries to find witnesses who saw anyone rush from the scene.
Mr Symons is thought to have moved into his house two years ago and had previously been a businessman with interests in property and IT.
It is believed he had recently retrained as a teacher was working at a London comprehensive, telling friends he hoped to “give something back to the community“.
One local resident and friend said: “He appeared the type who would confront an intruder in his home.
“He was very gentle, very nice and always had a friendly word for the neighbours. They were a respectable and intellectual couple.”
Police confirmed a post mortem examination would be held at Fulham mortuary tomorrow morning.
The murder came on the eve of publication of Home Office quarterly recorded crime data which is expected to show a rise in violent crime.
Annual figures published in July showed reported violent crime had risen 12% in the year to March, compared with the previous 12 months.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3652037
By David Stringer and Nick Allen, Crime Correspondent, PA News
A school teacher was stabbed to death in a violent struggle with a burglar as his family and other relatives slept upstairs in his £1 million home, detectives said tonight.
Robert Norman Symons, 45, was attempting to protect his family when he suffered a single fatal wound in the fight with the intruder.
Mr Symons had rushed downstairs to tackle the burglar at around 4.30am. Moments later he was found in a pool of blood by his wife.
Police said the teacher’s two-year-old and five-year-old daughters and other relatives were asleep upstairs in the three-storey Edwardian house in Airedale Avenue, an upmarket area of Chiswick, west London.
A police source said: “This man was trying to protect his home and his loved ones.”
Mr Symons’ wife, Linda Davies, thought to be a photographer, called an ambulance and the teacher was taken to Charing Cross hospital where he died from his injuries.
Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murphy, leading the inquiry, said: “His wife and family have witnessed a horrific crime.
“Shortly after 4.30am at the address at 38 Airedale Avenue, Mr Symons and his wife heard a noise in the kitchen.
“He went downstairs to investigate and we think it’s quite likely that Mr Symons disturbed an intruder and a fight broke out with a burglar or burglars.
“This appears to have been a burglary gone wrong.”
He said officers were speaking to the family and confirmed that a number of Mr Symons’s relatives were staying at the house at the time of his murder.
Mr Murphy said the struggle took place inside the house and added that it was moments after the break-in, before the intruder had a chance to take anything.
He said Mr Symons’s wife heard the commotion and came downstairs to find her husband fatally wounded.
It is thought she may have seen her husband stabbed or glimpsed the killer and any accomplice flee the house.
“The front door was ajar as his wife came downstairs and she saw it swing shut, we do not know if she witnessed the attack and she is now with officers and is very distressed,” said Mr Murphy.
He said detectives were working to establish if any Mr Symons’s children witnessed their father’s death.
Mr Murphy warned homeowners about confronting intruders and said: “If a person hears someone in their home and they’re near a phone our advice is to call the police, but people have to react to the circumstances they are in.”
Officers spent the day scouring gardens, gutters and rubbish bins, removing a number of items for forensic examination along the tree-lined avenue, but Mr Murphy said it is not yet known if the murder weapon has been found.
He said efforts were continuing to trace a suspect seen leaving the house who was captured on local CCTV and described as white, wearing a light-coloured short-sleeved shirt.
It is though the killer may have had an accomplice and detectives have conducted extensive house-to-house inquiries to find witnesses who saw anyone rush from the scene.
Mr Symons is thought to have moved into his house two years ago and had previously been a businessman with interests in property and IT.
It is believed he had recently retrained as a teacher was working at a London comprehensive, telling friends he hoped to “give something back to the community“.
One local resident and friend said: “He appeared the type who would confront an intruder in his home.
“He was very gentle, very nice and always had a friendly word for the neighbours. They were a respectable and intellectual couple.”
Police confirmed a post mortem examination would be held at Fulham mortuary tomorrow morning.
The murder came on the eve of publication of Home Office quarterly recorded crime data which is expected to show a rise in violent crime.
Annual figures published in July showed reported violent crime had risen 12% in the year to March, compared with the previous 12 months.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3652037
