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From Novinite News 04/03/2011


A UK expat has stabbed a Bulgarian neighbor in Northeast Bulgaria in a midnight brawl over loud music.

The incident reported Friday by the police occurred the night of March 3 in the village of Trastika, Popovo Municipality, Targovishte District.

It was caused by a gathering in the home of a 51-year-old Bulgaria whose loud paying of chalga music - a genre mixing folklore with Balkan and Arab motifs - disturbed the entire street.

A 48-year-old Englishman living in a neighboring house came out of his home armed with a bat and a knife after asking earlier the partying Bulgarians to turn down the music.

In the ensuing brawl, the Englishman whose name is reported as Roger K., stabbed the home-owner Stefcho G. After that the Brit himself called an ambulance.

The Bulgarian's life was saved in the hospital in Targovishte.

According to the Trud daily, Roger K. has been in Bulgaria for 2 years. He has been living off a retirement pension.

The paper reports two more UK families also have houses in Trastika but they spend only their summers there.

many thanks for the insight

I'm glad you have come along and added some light to this! its always better for people to fully understand a situation when they are armed with some facts instead or listening to gossip mongers who have nothing better to say than what Andy reported above. Its very sad that your friend has found himself in this situation and it has driven him to obvious despair, under these circumstances we would all have to ask ourselves how would we react? and the answer would be "
I don't know?"
and that's because unless you are of the same frail mind you can not realistically comment or judge.

davshaz wrote:

I'm glad you have come along and added some light to this! its always better for people to fully understand a situation when they are armed with some facts instead or listening to gossip mongers who have nothing better to say than what Andy reported above. Its very sad that your friend has found himself in this situation and it has driven him to obvious despair, under these circumstances we would all have to ask ourselves how would we react? and the answer would be "
I don't know?"
and that's because unless you are of the same frail mind you can not realistically comment or judge.

Too true davshav. Maybe it was desperation. But who knows how a court of law will view it.

beautifulangel wrote:

As i live in the same village as roger i feel i should defend his character if not his behaviour. He has been very kind and helpful towards my family and gone out of his way to show us around the area and introduce us to people. Unfortunately he was extreemely unhappy living in bulgaria and found himself in a position where he felt unable to leave. I personally think its awful for things to have got so out of hand, and i'm glad that stefan is ok. But as he has always been kind to me i hope they take his mental state into consideration when they sentance him.

for your post and the information, as I said in my previous post it was paper talk so it is good to get it from the horses mouth so to speak
This guy Roger obviously flipped in frustration, and we have to ask ourselves, what would we have done in the same situation of provocation, and until or when we are confronted with it we will never know
I hope he goes to court, get's a fair trial and all things are considered and that Roger and Stefan can return to being good neighbour's
I must admit some of the comments made on this topic I feel are rather harsh to say the least, like throw the book at him and throw the key's away

I stand by what I said Brian under normal circumstances which is all I had to go on but in view of the facts now coming from the horses mouth so to speak then there has to be some room for leniency. As you rightly point out if your mind isn't functioning in the way it should then none of us can say how we would react? I to hope that the courts will take all the facts into account but lets not forget this is Bulgaria and I don't think I have ever seen real justice.

Interesting follow up with video all in Bulgarian sorry

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... uzika.html

Rough Translation:

"
Neighborhood scandal ended with blood. Briton stabbed with a knife his neighbor in the Popovo village of Cane. The incident occurred on the third of March, the reason for it proved to be too loud music, disturbing the sleep of a Briton.

Neighborhood brawl started here. 51-year-old Stefan Dimitrov and his two friends got together in the garage near the house. The man said that was fun with wine and music. Midnight Noise, however, infuriated neighbor Roger.

We went out without arguing to see what was happening. He began to cry, and entered inside, the victim Stefan Dimitrov explained.

Having failed to pacify the neighbors with words, the Englishman decided to act with a firm hand and threw stones, breaking windows. They suspected that Roger was carrying a knife.

In the ensuing encounter in the courtyard, Stefan was stabbed with a knife in the abdomen. Neighbors put him in a car and drove him to hospital.

His attacker was detained by police, but was released to go home the next day. Roger explained that he was looking for conflict with its neighbors, "
I went to ask them to be quieter. Two of them came out with a pickax in one hand, the other with a shovel. And I attacked. It was in defence as they tried to kill me. What could I do?"
Roger defended.

Although two years living in Cane, Roger remains a mystery to his neighbors.

Locals argue that the Englishman appeared after being banished from the nearby village because of his explosive temper. He receives a pension from the UK, so does not have to work here. He has no friends among the village.

Stefan, the victim, is in hospital in Targovishte. His condition is now stable and there is no danger to his life, and he should be allowed home in a week.

The press office of the Regional Directorate of Interior in Targovishte said they had made the necessary investigative actions in the presence of a lawyer and translator. The case is in pre-trial proceedings."

Thank you Chris

Thanks that was really interesting. I wouldn't like to be the policeman trying to sort out that mess, or roger if he doesn't get locked up. Doesn't sound like he's too welcome in the village. Just goes to show maybe he should have tried to get on with more than just the brits. All very sad, Hope the locals don't decide the rest off us are bad news too.

Chris wrote:

Having failed to pacify the neighbors with words, the Englishman decided to act with a firm hand and threw stones, breaking windows. They suspected that Roger was carrying a knife.

In the ensuing encounter in the courtyard, Stefan was stabbed with a knife in the abdomen. Neighbors put him in a car and drove him to hospital.

Another one with a knife. Is it catching?

coriolanus wrote:

Chris wrote:

Having failed to pacify the neighbors with words, the Englishman decided to act with a firm hand and threw stones, breaking windows. They suspected that Roger was carrying a knife.

In the ensuing encounter in the courtyard, Stefan was stabbed with a knife in the abdomen. Neighbors put him in a car and drove him to hospital.

Another one with a knife. Is it catching?

I will be giving the neighbours ear plugs when I get there, unless they like listening to the bagpipes.

itchyfeet wrote:

I will be giving the neighbours ear plugs when I get there, unless they like listening to the bagpipes.

Was I wrong, then, in thinking that everyone enjoyed the sound of very loud bagpipes late at night?

Lets not forget about how serious this matter is and how serious it could have been, I'm sorry but to make light of this sort of thing just isn't appropriate perhaps other forums might allow this sort of thing but I'm sure the majority of responsible members on this forum wouldn't find it so funny. Sorry mod if I'm out of order but it just needed saying

I was just wondering if anyone had any more news about this matter? I'm assuming the person has been charged and is waiting for a court hearing?

As far as I know they are still collecting evidence. He has said it was self defense and Stefan and his friends say he provoked them and then attacked. Roger has been charged but Im not sure with exactly what. Other people I know say his behaviour has got progressively more strange all winter. Don't think he's got much hope of self defense though when he went outside with a knife.