Auto-Corrected Text Leads To Murder

There are auto-correct mistakes, and then there are auto-correct mistakes that lead to murder.

Just what Neil Brook, 33, meant to call Josef Witkowski remains unclear, but at the time the text was sent Brook accidentally called him a "nutter," the UK's Bolton News reported. The two had only known each other for about 6 months.

Brook claims he meant to call Witkowski a "mutter," a somewhat less derogatory term.

After being called insane by his friend, and exchanging a number of inflammatory texts, Witkowski allegedly came to Brook's flat, where a fight ensued, according to the Daily Mail.

By the end of the scuffle Witkowski suffered over 100 injuries, and eventually died, per CNET.

From the Daily Mail:

Brook is now facing a lengthy spell in jail after being found guilty of manslaughter.

In advance of the visit he had fitted knives to the door and near his bathroom in his flat which hit the victim in the leg.

After suffering a knife wound, Mr Witkowski sought sanctuary in the bathroom, but Brook smashed his way through and continued the assault.

Comments

[0x00000000]

04:24 AM on 02/19/2011

That's lucked up!

[Sent from my iPhone]

[born 2b different]

12:30 PM on 02/19/2011

that funny!

[Satish Dass]

02:51 AM on 02/19/2011

Sounds like there was more to this than just an auto correct mistake. Stupid press and news media....desperate for interesting stories.

[GirlInNYC]

11:09 PM on 02/22/2011

Agreed.

[UNR]

03:48 PM on 02/18/2011

Huh? Glad he's not a friend of mine then, I'd have called him 10x worse than that on our first meeting!

[FranzLuchan]

01:18 PM on 02/18/2011

Yep. I can vouch for how horrible this auto-correction works. My lousy android phone makes giberish out of most everything I type on these blogs.

[tooncesrocks]

12:30 PM on 02/18/2011

what does this translate to in american english?

[jsgaetano]

11:40 AM on 02/18/2011

Sounds to me like the auto-corrected text was perfectly accurate.

[WilsonWilson]

03:14 PM on 02/18/2011

They both sound like nutters to me.

[Northern Observer]

10:59 AM on 02/18/2011

Looks like he lived up to Auto-Correct's assesment.

[S Cooper]

10:44 AM on 02/18/2011

"In advance of the visit he had fitted knives to the door and near his bathroom in his flat which hit the victim in the leg."

His flat hit the victim in the leg? I know the Mail is a crappy tabloid newspaper but is this what passes for writing in England?

[OLMEQ]

10:44 AM on 02/18/2011

cavemen

[Wizer]

10:39 AM on 02/18/2011

There are now words I just avoid: IPAD thinks it's knows better than I and I have just given up.

[jsgaetano]

11:41 AM on 02/18/2011

Don't try telling the cultists that anything Apple makes isn't perfect.

[TuckerThaTruckr]

04:52 PM on 02/18/2011

Or you could just turn autocorrect off. Is that an option on ipad? It is on iphone.

[Wizer]

05:26 PM on 02/18/2011

Don't know but I'll take a look when I get home; thanks for the info. Have a nice weekend.

[GirlInNYC]

11:09 PM on 02/22/2011

Yes, the iPad and iPhone allow you to turn off auto-correct.

[hyperkell]

10:22 AM on 02/18/2011

what kind of jail time will the phone serve for conspiracy to murder?

[Femonanon]

11:10 AM on 02/18/2011

Well, if it was present (and did NOTHING to stop it) then it is an accomplice and should be serving the same jail time. That's one, for sure, that will die while in custody.

[JeremyGold]

05:06 PM on 02/18/2011

Well, it is a cellphone....

Wait! I have more - killer app/jailbreak/battery life. Feel free to create your own puns.

[Panasit Ch]

09:55 AM on 02/18/2011

Huffpost should do a research on the number of commenter who read just the headline before commenting and never bother to read the actual article.

The one that had the message auto-corrected wasn't the one that got murdered, he's the one who did the killing. Manslaughter too. It would have been justifiable homicide had he not gone after the guy in the bathroom. But that's another story.

I don't see how that relates to comment like "oh, haha, technology can now kill you." No it doesn't. At least not in the context of this article. It's in the context of the HEADLINE though.

[LeaderofMen]

09:47 AM on 02/18/2011

Utter BS to 'blame' auto-correct for a murder.

[checkmoot]

09:46 AM on 02/18/2011

Knives ? In this country, if someone comes in your house to attack you you shoot him.

[jmiro]

10:27 AM on 02/18/2011

the murder took place in the murderers home. why is everything an opportunity for gun rights advocates to spout off ? it is utter nuttery.

[checkmoot]

12:53 PM on 02/18/2011

Just pointing out that the U.K. is a very backward nation. Still using knives to defend their home. (And maybe I'm just kidding ?)

[Ordinary Citizen]

09:44 AM on 02/18/2011

Short temper cost him his life. Sad.