Four men are due to sentenced for the murder of Bill Henham at a squat in Brighton when they appear at Hove Crown Court today (Friday 20 May).
They were found guilty of the murder of Bill Henham at a new year party at a squat in Brighton by a jury at the end of February.
Gregory Hawley, Lamech Gordon-Carew, Alize Spence and Dushane Meikle were convicted after a three-month trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
The trial was delayed at times because of the coronavirus, the Christmas break and Storm Eunice – and computer problems held up the jury’s deliberations.
But the jury returned unanimous verdicts on Thursday 24 February to convict the four men accused of killing 24-year-old Mr Henham at a new year’s party in the squat in North Street, Brighton.
All four men had denied murdering William Henham, known as Bill, on New Year’s Day 2020.
Hawley, 29, formerly of Poynings Drive, Hove, and North Road, Brighton, was said to have been the ringleader.
Shortly after the murder, the jury was told that Hawley and Gordon-Carew, who turns 21 tomorrow, of Cheeseman Close, Hampton, Richmond upon Thames, boasted to others about what they had done.
Spence, 19, of Makepeace Road, Northolt, London, was just 16 at the time of the murder.
Forensic evidence linked the murder to Hawley, Gordon-Carew, Spence and 28-year-old Meikle, of Amberley Drive, Hove, and formerly of Belvedere Terrace, Brighton.
The court was told that Mr Henham was beaten in a room referred to as the “torture room” before his body was dragged away and dumped in an outside recess below.
James Mulholland, prosecuting, told the jury at the start of trial: “After the attack, those involved in the assault showed a significant degree of forensic awareness as they attempted to cover their tracks.
“An examination of the inner door of the first-floor room where Mr Henham had been injured revealed attempts had been made to clean it.
“The prosecution case is that each defendant either joined in the physical attack upon William Henham or deliberately helped or encouraged one or more of the others to do so.
“And that each, as they did so, intended that he be caused, at least, really serious injury and that they are all guilty of murder.”
The judge, Sir John Cavanagh, known as Mr Justice Cavanagh, is expected to sentence the four men at Hove Crown Court today.
After the jury returned their verdict, he thanked and praised them and paid tribute to the courage and dignity of Mr Henham’s family who had followed the trial in court.
The judge also said that he would like to commend the police officers and crime scene investigators whose hard work helped to secure the convictions.
