'He was on drugs ... I forgive him'

[turkeyphant]

Originally Posted by http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29389-2362916,00.html

THE father of an Oxford student suspected of murdering a Harrow School master’s daughter has told her family that he was devastated by the murder.

Lucy Braham, 25, an aspiring fashion designer, was stabbed at her parents’ home on Thursday. William Jaggs, 22, who had known Miss Braham for most of his life, was found with stab wounds in the house and was arrested on suspicion of murder. Friends described him yesterday as an eccentric character who had become involved in drugs.

Mr Jaggs’s father, Alan, contacted Miss Braham’s father, Jason, by e-mail on Friday. Both are department heads at Harrow and their families live four doors apart at the school in northwest London.

Peter Jaggs, William’s uncle, said yesterday that the student’s father had sent an e-mail to Miss Braham’s father hours after the murder.

Mr Jaggs, from Liverpool, told The Times: “They have known each for 20 years; they have worked together and they are best friends.

“The kids have known each other for that time. Alan contacted Mr Braham to say how devastated he is by what has happened.”

Mr Braham is director of art at the 400-year-old public school and Mr Jaggs is head of design and technology.

Joan Fieldhouse, the victim’s grandmother, said: “I forgive [the alleged killer] because he was on drugs. The devil gets into the mind when someone is on drugs. They are not capable of thinking for themselves.”

She added: “The two families have been friendly for many years. I expect that when they do see each other they will hug each other.”

William Jaggs, a former pupil at Harrow, was found with stab wounds to his heart and chest. He was described yesterday as being in a serious but stable condition in Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow.

Friends painted a disturbing picture of the aspiring actor who they said had become increasingly involved in drugs at Oxford. He was due to return to Oriel College next month to finish his English degree after being suspended last year because of his erratic behaviour and poor work.

Will Orr-Ewing, 21, who read modern history at Oriel and was a Harrow contemporary of Mr Jaggs, said: “He just wasn’t working hard enough.”

Numerous contemporaries of Mr Jaggs said that his drugtaking went beyond the usual student experimentation with cannabis.

An Oriel student from the year above Mr Jaggs said: “He was taking lots of drugs, not just cannabis.” Another said: “He experimented with magic mushrooms and LSD.” One student, whose shared college flat was next to Mr Jaggs’s, said: “Our flats were close to each other but they were very different. We would sit drinking tea; they would sit in theirs smoking dope.”

One close friend from Oxford said: “What has happened is galactically out of character. He was foppish but everyone in our set was. There was nothing stuck up about him.”

Mr Braham and his artist wife, Julienne, 50, issued a statement paying tribute to their daughter. “It is the cruellest tragedy that someone so gentle should have had her life snatched away so senselessly,” they said.

“Lucy was a stunningly beautiful young woman, but modest. It is an irony that someone so dismissive about her looks, who disliked being photographed, should have her face in every national paper.”

The London College of Fashion graduate had recently returned from a five-week trip to Guatemala and Mexico with an old school friend. “Lucy was quiet, calm and graceful. She had a circle of close friends and a warm and generous smile that touched everyone she met,” added the statement.

The family said Miss Braham had no social connection with Mr Jaggs or his friends.

Emphasis added is mine. It's always nice to see the slant the Murdoch Times can put on things. Obviously, because this kid smoked pot and did acid at university, it's to blame for him being a (possible) murderer?

Words fail me.

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