I also find it hard to believe they wouldn't have known that someone was being dragged along behind, and brief as that mile may have been, they must have been aware that the outcome for their victim could well prove to be fatal.
The grinning and general joviality whilst under arrest was also galling to witness.
PC widow's words were incredibly moving.
I agree with your words, or lack of them, as to the jury needing protection GG.. In a similar vein, the burglary in the pensioner's house in Kent a while back, whilst protecting himself and his wife, he inadvertently committed manslaughter fatally wounding one of the burglars. Then when it was ruled that he had used justifiable self defence, threats to his life followed and he had no choice but to uproot himself and his wife from their home.
These young men were out to rob and steal that night, the same way as those who broke into that man's home on that fateful evening, it was one of their systematic nights for breaking and entering. Not isolated incidents. They act as if they are above the law