Man gets 21 years in tourist stabbing

MAYS LANDING, N.J. - A North Wildwood man who said he acted in self-defense when he stabbed a Welsh tourist outside a Margate nightclub in August 2007 delivered an odd and tearful apology to the victim's brother Thursday during his sentencing at Superior Court in Atlantic County.

Robert Davies, 49, was sentenced to 211/2 years in state prison for reckless manslaughter and weapons offenses in the death of Lavern Paul Ritch, a British reality-show personality who was at the Shore with friends from Cherry Hill.

Davies was acquitted in February on charges of murder and aggravated manslaughter, which would have carried a life sentence.

Ritch, a children's swimming instructor whom family and friends called a role model, apparently was acting as a Good Samaritan when he attempted to help Davies, who was being chased by a group of Mexican nationals. Davies and the other men had been involved in a fight moments before in Maynard's Cafe, a couple of blocks away.

At Thursday's sentencing, Davies turned away from the judge to face Ritch's brother and wept as he apologized for the killing.

"That I could strike a blow with such intensity and such horrifying consequences for your entire family, and when it's brought you such pain and grief, is a shame from which I shall never escape. I cannot ask for your forgiveness because I cannot forgive myself," Davies said.

But then, Davies began to talk about two men involved in other bar fights. They didn't defend themselves and wound up being "carried by six," he said, referring to pallbearers. Davies said he was glad he did not end up dead like his victim.

In the seconds before Davies plunged a knife into Ritch's chest, witnesses testified, the victim held up his arms and told Davies he was "just trying to help."

Davies pierced the heart of the former television star, who had been a contestant on a British version of American Gladiator. Ritch, 37, of Penarth, was pronounced dead at an Atlantic City hospital.

Thursday's sentencing before Judge Bernard E. DeLury lasted more than three hours as prosecutors argued for Davies to receive more than the usual 10-year maximum sentence for reckless manslaughter because of his criminal record. His 12 arrests and 10 convictions, which span three states and 28 years, include a Megan's Law conviction, Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor William Merz said.

According to testimony in Davies' three-week trial, the fight that led to his pursuit might have begun after Davies hurled an anti-Mexican slur at a man in a Maynard's restroom.

Davies insisted that someone in the bar dressed similarly to him was the real culprit, and that the Mexican man and his friends had mistakenly targeted the "big white guy," as Davies referred to himself.

On Thursday, DeLury called Davies a "latter-day Know-Nothing" whose fate was the result of "racial and ethnic animus."

The judge sentenced Davies to 20 years for reckless manslaughter and 18 months on the charge of possessions of a weapon by a convicted felon. He must serve 17 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.