Killer’s side of story must be heard, family says

A woman who was convicted of murdering a man who followed her home from a pub should have been “treated as a victim”, campaigners and her family have claimed.

Learna Cheng, who is also known as Lea-Rose, stabbed 39-year-old Dylan Bacon inside her flat in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 14 March 2022.

Jailing her for life in September 2023, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told her she had attempted to “blacken” Mr Bacon’s character” to “avoid responsibility” for what she had done.

However, ahead of her case being considered by the Court of Appeal on Friday, a campaign group and her father said they believe she had been subjected to sexual violence before the fatal attack and may have “lost control”.

Following her trial, Cheng told campaign group Justice For Women (JFW) she would “probably never know what happened to me that evening”.

“Something must have happened for me to stab him,” she added.

During the trial, the jury heard she had been drinking with her grandfather in the Old Swan pub when Mr Bacon came over and joined them at their table, where the group appeared to be getting on well.

Cheng was recorded on CCTV taking a sip of Mr Bacon’s drink, and a short time later became unwell and was seen to vomit on to the table, before being escorted by her grandfather back to his nearby flat.

Mr Bacon also left and went to a different pub, The Millfield, which had a view of Cheng’s grandfather’s flat.

CCTV showed Cheng leaving the flat and heading to her own home a couple of streets away, at which point Mr Bacon walked after her, a few paces behind.

About 90 minutes later, cameras outside Cheng’s flat captured the pair going inside.

Two hours later, Mr Bacon staggered out, having suffered multiple stab wounds.

The trial was told Mr Bacon’s semen was found on Cheng’s clothing and her bra had been damaged.

It heard police were called after Cheng activated a panic alarm in her flat, which had been installed following reports from her and her housing provider that a group of local men had taken to turning up at her flat after drinking in local pubs.

Cheng’s legal team claimed Mr Bacon was a part of that group, although the court heard there were no records of her specifically mentioning him by name.

She told the jury she had no memory of what happened in her flat and argued that the only reason she would have stabbed Mr Bacon was if he tried to sexually assault her.

She said she would never have consented to having sex with Mr Bacon and had no attraction to him.

However, sentencing her to a minimum term of 16 years, Judge Flewitt KC told the court Cheng had to tried to “blacken [Mr Bacon’s] character” to “avoid responsibility for what you had done”.

He also said he “strongly suspected” something had happened in the flat to cause Cheng to lose her temper, which was affected by the alcohol she had drunk.

Following the case, Mr Bacon’s family said he was “loved by everyone in Old Swan”, adding: “You couldn’t think about the Swan without Dylan coming to mind.”

However, for Cheng’s family and supporters, the way in which Mr Bacon came to be in her flat when she was heavily intoxicated was not properly explained in court.

Nicola Mainwood, who works with JFW and The Centre for Women’s Justice, has been helping Cheng since the trial.

She said the evidence suggested something happened to Cheng before she attacked Mr Bacon.

“This is a young, vulnerable woman who’s never been in trouble with the police,” she said.

“But she has previously been an abusive relationships and understandably, she sort of believes that something terrible must have happened for her to have reacted in this way towards him.”

Ms Mainwood said Cheng had complained of bleeding from her genitals after her arrest but no rape examination took place, and her blood was not tested for the presence of drugs.

She said the campaigners believed that “if she had been treated as a victim of sexual violence, which the evidence suggests… maybe she wouldn’t have been convicted of murder.”

At the Court of Appeal on Friday, Cheng’s barrister Clare Wade KC will argue that the judge was wrong not to have allowed the jury to consider the partial defence of loss of control.

Under the law, if a defendant charged with murder can prove they genuinely lost the ability to exercise self-restraint due to a “qualifying trigger” then they are guilty of manslaughter.

At Cheng’s 2023 trial, Judge Flewitt ruled that there was insufficient evidence to meet that criteria.

Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service said they could not comment ahead of the appeal hearing.

Cheng’s father, 52-year-old Rodney Tucker, said he felt his daughter had been “stalked” on the day she killed Mr Bacon and she was finding life in prison difficult.

“It’s been hard seeing my daughter in there where she is, and obviously what she’s in there for”, he said.

“Sometimes she’s coping alright, sometimes she’s not.”

“It’s sad on the family of [Mr Bacon] as well,” he said.

“I’m not happy about it, and I’m not happy my daughter is in there.

“But there has got to be justice somewhere down the line, the story has got to be told on her side as well.”