Two men guilty of 'horrendous' murder

Two men have been found guilty of the "truly horrendous" murder of a 68-year-old man in a Yeovil flat.

Franklin Ingram, known as Frank, was killed by his neighbour Martin Carty and Mark Sothcott, both 56, at Carty's flat in Raglan Terrace in June.

The pair attacked Mr Ingram during a fight, headbutting him and striking him with a hammer leaving him with serious injuries.

It took more than 18 hours for either of them to call the emergency services, and when Carty did phone 999 he falsely claimed to have found Frank deceased on his sofa.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court unanimously found both men guilty of murder after a three-week trial.

They had been told that on 22 June Mr Ingram and Carty had spoken after Carty left rubbish near Mr Ingram's flat.

A CCTV recording was also played, in which Mr Ingram described Carty as an "idiot" and said he was going to contact the housing association responsible about what had happened.

However, the prosecution said, shortly before 23:00 BST an 'angry' Mr Ingram went up to Carty's flat, where both Carty and Southcott were, with a hammer.

A row broke out between Mr Ingram and Carty, which then developed into a fight between the three men.

The court heard how the victim was headbutted and struck with a camera, sustaining injuries to his face, head, torso, arms and legs.

It wasn't until around 18:40 BST the next day that Carty called the ambulance to say he had found Mr Ingram dead.

He claimed his neighbour had visited his flat the night before in an agitated state, and had let him sleep on his sofa.

The call handler asked Carty to put Mr Ingram in the recovery position, but he refused to do so, and when paramedics arrived they found several wounds that were not consistent with Carty's story.

He was arrested the same day, while Sothcott, of Stiby Road, was arrested the following day after police received information from members of the public about comments he had made while leaving Raglan Terrace the night Mr Ingram was killed.

Detectives were able to find audio from CCTV cameras which allowed them to conclude they knew Mr Ingram had died during the fight.

They will both be sentenced at the same court next year, with a date yet to be finalised.

Senior investigating officer, Det Ch Inps Mark Almond, said: "The medical evidence clearly demonstrated that a serious and sustained violent attack was carried out against Frank Ingram. The severity of the injuries caused shows the true intent of their actions.

"They both knew they had at least seriously injured him, and most likely killed him, and the fact neither of them called the emergency services for more than 18 hours is truly horrendous."

He added that while he hoped Mr Ingram's family could "take comfort in the truth being put before the courts", he recognised that the verdict could not "erase the pain" of their loss.

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