Pub Landlord Found Guilty of ‘Ironing Board Killing’

(Picture: Rex)

A pub landlord has been found guilty of killing a wealthy American ‘eccentric’ after ordering the victim to leave his establishment.

Rostam Notarki was chasing 53-year-old Charles Hickox out of the Cardinal Wolsey pub near Hampton Court Palace after the victim went to confront staff about a missing credit card while wielding a tennis racquet in each hand.

The court heard that Notarki 'jabbed’ Hickox onto the road with an ironing board into the path of an oncoming van.

Hickox suffered serious head injuries and died an hour later.

Notarki, also 53, told the Old Bailey he had been acting out of self-defence fearing for the safety of his son after Hickox had hit him on the head with a tennis racquet.

The Old Bailey jury rejected his defence and found him guilty of manslaughter.

He had already admitted hiding CCTV footage of the incident from a police search of the pub.

His son Kian, 20, and barman Mehrad Mohmadi 45, Radcliffe Mews, Hampton, Middlesex who helped conceal the hard drive and monitor were also convicted of perverting the course of justice.

The court had heard Mr Hickox was an American gambler who while giving the appearance of being a homeless tramp did in fact have access to large amounts of money.

Among the possessions he carried around with him in blue plastic bags, were two tennis racquets - and two ornamental mice which he would place in front of him in pubs and talk to.

The judge expressed difficulty in finding similar cases to refer to when considering the appropriate penalty, saying: ‘I could not find anything that remotely matches the factual matrix.

‘The closest I could find was a one-punch situation.’