Autocorrected text message mistakes have become such a common occurrence that they have several webpages dedicated to capitalizing on the humor they provide. In one recent case, however, a smartphone’s dictionary made an error that allegedly led to a bloody altercation between friends, leaving one of them dead and the other facing charges of manslaughter.
Neil Brook, a 33-year-old UK resident, apparently sent an unintentionally insulting text message to his 27-year-old friend and neighbor, Josef Witkowski, when his phone’s built-in error correction changed the word “mutter” to “nutter”.
The Daily Mail reports that the perceived insult led to an exchange of increasingly abusive text messages, which ultimately resulted in a tense personal visit at Brook’s flat. Brook, who reportedly “had fitted knives to the door and near his bathroom in his flat which hit the victim in the leg,” ended up stabbing Witkowski numerous times, which resulted in “104 injuries including cuts, stab wounds, bruises and slice marks on his hands, with the fatal blow piercing his heart.”
“He had a big kitchen knife and I pulled my knife off the door and stabbed him. I just lost it and went crazy. I thought we were mates,” Brook said of the incident. “All over a misunderstanding over a text. I said mutter not nutter.”
Though Brooks claims that Witkowski came at him first, the news report claims that it was never actually established whether or not Witkowski was armed when he arrived on Brooks’ doorstep that fateful day.
Brook has already appeared in front of a Manchester Crown Court jury, which found his autocorrect so compelling that they overlooked the strategic placement of knives at Brooks’ flat and reduced charges from murder, which generally involves killing a person with “malice aforethought”, to manslaughter, a charge which designates a “lack of any prior intention to kill.” Sentencing for the crime is still forthcoming.
Without Witkowski present to state otherwise, he has been painted as someone in a murderous rage from which Brooks needed to defend himself. That may have been the case, but unfortunately that side of the story went to the grave with the young man.
So the next time you go to press “Send” on that text to your friend, you may want to proofread a bit more diligently to avoid a bad situation that could result from the humiliation of unintentionally insulting the person, or professing your “lube” instead of your “love” (true story). Or, just rest assured that the autocorrect defense will get you a lesser charge if you end up causing that person physical harm.
