A DRUG addict and self-confessed burglar and robber faces the rest of his life in prison after he tied up, gagged and murdered a vulnerable 62-year-old alcoholic in his Northamptonshire home.
Phillip Haslam, 36, was unanimously convicted at Northampton Crown Court today of murdering John Kiernan in Havelock Street, Kettering, whose decomposing body was found “hog-tied” when police broke in on October 1.
The jury took just over an hour to return a unanimous verdict after a three-week trial in which he had accused associate Levoy Berry, 31, of carrying pout the horrific murder.
Mr Justice Henriques said: “That verdict was inevitable. There can be few murder trial where the evidence is completely overwhelming and unanswerable. Indeed the defendant himself failed to answer the allegations (in not giving evidence). The sentence will, of course be life imprisonment, but I have to decide how many years he will have to serve before being considered for parole but you can be sure it will be many years.”
Haslam, of Gloucester Close, Kettering failed to give evidence during the trial in which the jury heard how Mr Kiernan was ‘hogtied’, gagged with a pair of socks and repeatedly struck with a brick, in order to force him to sign a £90 cheque to fund his addiction to heroin.
The judge adjourned passing sentence for the murder, as well as two burglaries of Mr Keirnan’s Havelock Street flat and the violent hammer robbery of another 62-year-old alcoholic.
Northampton Crown Court heard Mr Kiernan, who lived alone, died as a result of head injuries and partial blocking of his airways. His decomposing body laid undiscovered for up to two weeks.
Hallam admitted twice burgling Mr Kiernan’s flat, stealing money and personal items, in the weeks leading up to his death.
He has also admitted robbing 62-year-old Raymond Heaviside of a wallet, bank cards and cash.
Mr Heaviside was attacked with a hammer, at Christine Windle’s property in Duke Street, Kettering on September 1 last year.
David Herbert, prosecuting, said Mr Kiernan’s arms and feet were tied together behind his back with electrical cord and he had been gagged with a pair of socks before being killed.
Addressing the jury, he said: “During this trial, we have stepped into a different world of drug addiction and desperation, where people will do anything to get their next fix of heroin.
“A world where the chosen way of achieving that is by committing acquisitive crime and if the victim does not co-operate, he turns to violence to achieve his needs.”
The court has heard Haslam allegedly confessed to tying up Mr Kiernan and hitting him with a brick to a number of people including Louise Wall, 32, and her husband Levoy Berry, 31.
Mr Herbert added: “The prosecution says the confession evidence is reliable and points to the fact that the defendant spoke freely about what he had done to John Kiernan to a number of friends and associates. What you have to decide is whether it is sufficient to convict Phillip Haslam.
“When you look at all the circumstances, as you know them to be, from these circumstances alone, you can reach your conclusion that this defendant was involved in burgling and killing Mr Kiernan.
“On any view, all the evidence points to the fact the defendant and the defendant alone was the person who had been targeting John Kiernan in the weeks leading up to his death, stealing from him during burglaries, robberies, and threatening him for money.”
Nicholas Syfret QC, for Haslam, has accused Levoy Berry of carrying out the murder, which he denied while giving evidence for the prosecution during the trial.
He admitted Haslam had “been parasitic, selfish and brutal” but was not responsible for the murder.
He said: “The Crown’s case is that it was the defendant. The defence say that it was Levoy Berry.
“If you come to the conclusion Levoy Berry was the murderer, that goes some way to making the confession evidence unreliable and if you reach that point, you will acquit the defendant.”
Christine Windle, 37, has admitted arranging the robbery of Mr Heaviside, with her partner Haslam, as well as handling property stolen from Mr Kiernan including money and cheques and will be sentenced with Haslam.