Woman 'stabbed man to death in self-defence when he followed her home' - but judge wasn't convinced

Learna Cheng was convicted of murdering Dylan Bacon - but she claims he had sexually assaulted her she’d acted in ‘self defence’

A woman who stabbed a man to death after she noticed he had ‘followed her home’, has had her appeal against her murder conviction dismissed.

Learna Cheng, who goes by Lea Rose, was convicted of murdering 39-year-old Dylan Bacon, with the trial taking place at Liverpool Crown Court on September 4, 2023. Dylan was discovered collapsed in a pool of his own blood on March 14, 2022, outside a block of flats.

When Dylan’s body was found, it was noticed that there was a trail of blood leading back towards Learna’s apartment. When Learna was questioned by police, she told officers that Dylan had knifed her in the leg and then taken his own life ‘because he didn’t want to go to prison’.

She later accepted that she had been responsible for inflicting his fatal wounds, reports the Liverpool Echo. However, the defendant claimed that she did not remember doing so and claimed that Mr Bacon had "stalked and preyed" on her by allegedly following her home from the pub in her intoxicated state.

Jailing her for life with a minimum term of 16 years in September 2023, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told her: "It is far more likely that your asserted loss of memory is a device to avoid explaining the circumstances in which you stabbed Dylan Bacon."

Following her conviction the Centre for Women's Justice (CWJ), who have supported Cheng, said they believe she had been subjected to a sexual assault and may have "lost control". Cheng's legal team argued that Judge Flewitt should have left the partial defence of loss of control to the jury. But the Court of Appeal rejected the argument saying the evidence was speculative.

Harriet Wistrich, director of CWJ, stated: "This judgement illustrates how the defence of loss of control does not serve women who kill in circumstances where they are threatened with male violence. Instead, most Court of Appeal decisions on loss of control have extended the defence to perpetrators of femicide.

"The relatively new defence was introduced to replace provocation widely seen as favouring men who explode in anger over women who respond out of fear of serious violence. This case shows how the law still does not work for women and more radical reform is needed."

In his sentencing comments the judge told Cheng: "During the trial, you did your best to paint Dylan Bacon in a bad light . I have no doubt that you exaggerated Dylan Bacon’s faults to support the suggestion, made on your behalf, that you stabbed him in order to defend yourself from an actual or threatened physical or sexual assault.

"You gave no evidence to support that suggestion and, like the jury, I reject it. I strongly suspect, although only you know, that something happened in that flat to cause you to lose your temper, probably affected by the alcohol that you had drunk, and then to pick up a knife and repeatedly stab Dylan Bacon.

"Further, I am satisfied that, after stabbing Dylan Bacon, you stabbed yourself and then pressed the panic alarm. To that extent, you were thinking and acting rationally and in a manner calculated to cover up or to justify what you had done. It must have added significantly to his family's grief to hear you blacken his character in an attempt to avoid responsibility for what you had done . Apart from your evidence, which the jury clearly rejected, I have heard nothing to contradict your own grandfather’s assertion that Dylan Bacon was a very likeable lad."

Following Dylan’s death his family said: " Dylan was loved by everyone in Old Swan . You couldn’t think about the Swan without Dylan coming to mind. He had the most infectious smile and energy. He was gifted with the bluest eyes and dimples, and was always available for a picture. The stories of Dylan will live on, we love you so much ‘One kiss is all it takes’."

The trial heard Learna had visited Hoggin's Irish Pub with her grandad on the day of the murder. They spent around 45 minutes there before moving on to the Old Swan, also known as the White House. A further three quarters of an hour later, Mr Bacon arrived and sat with them at a table.

She was seen on CCTV footage making "affectionate gestures" to him, including putting her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. But, at around 5pm, she was "violently sick at the table" and left with her grandad to his home on Ashton Street.

Dylan meanwhile continued to the Millfield Inn, where he was seated by a window and appeared to spot her as she walked across Prescot Road roughly 25 minutes later. He finished his pint and left the premises and the two were not seen on camera again until 7pm, with their "whereabouts unknown" for the intervening period of around an hour and a half.

Learna had previously been wearing a black Adidas jacket, a black t-shirt, black leggings and black trainers but was by now sporting a khaki coat and a "lower cut black top". Dylan meanwhile was "a matter of a few paces and a few seconds behind her" as they arrived at her address.

Then, one hour and 51 minutes on, he was seen leaving with blood trickling down his back, wearing only one of his trainers and without the jacket he was wearing upon entering. Footage showed him "taking his final steps" before "collapsing and dying". Around this time, Cheng had sounded an alarm which had been fitted at her housing association property - with operators on the other end calling 999 as a result. A fellow resident also called the police after discovering a "blood splatter" while walking home carrying his shopping.

Officers attended the area and found Mr Bacon "slumped against a wall" before following a "trail of blood" to Cheng's unit in a neighbouring block. She refused to open her door and PCs had to force entry, after which they found "extensive bloodstaining" on the floor of the hallway alongside a "large, bloodstained knife". The occupant, who was naked from the waist down but wearing a bra, then "began shouting and screaming" saying "she'd been stabbed and was a victim". Her behaviour was described as "erratic", while she had a "small puncture wound to the top of her right thigh".

Cheng was "initially uncooperative" and "refused to leave the flat". She was eventually moved into the back of an ambulance where she was arrested on suspicion of murder, at which point she replied: "Murder of who? I've been stabbed. I don't even know who stabbed me or why."

Cheng later told the police: "I haven't murdered anyone, are you joking? Someone's tried to kill me. They've tried to murder me. The people who've stabbed me, I don't even know. I can't remember. The last person who was in was Dylan Bacon. I've never killed anyone. I wouldn't do that. I loved Dylan. He stabbed me."