Essex men jailed for manslaughter after 'senseless attack' on grandfather

Two men from Essex have been jailed for life after they left a grandfather for dead during a raid near Rayleigh.

Andrew McVicar, from Basildon, and Colin Garrod, from Southend, carried out the fatal attack at a bungalow in Hullbridge last March.

They were caught on CCTV as they lay in wait for the owners and their friends in a nearby bus shelter.

During the incident they pushed 57-year-old Tim Smith who fell and hit his head on a wall, suffering fatal brain injuries.

They made off with a bag containing around £50,000. McVicar and Garrod were sentenced to life with 12 years in prison.

The pair were armed with what appeared to be a gun when they demanded they get inside the bungalow.

As the victims went inside, one of the men pushed Mr Smith in the back, causing him to fall and hit his head on a low brick wall.

Before they left, they hauled Mr Smith into the hallway and left.

He had suffered a catastrophic brain injury and never regained consciousness. He died in hospital a day later, on March 20, 2017.

Garrod, McVicar and one of their associates, Jamie Caborn, were later arrested.

McVicar, 35, and Garrod, 51, were each charged with manslaughter, affray and possession of an imitation firearm.

They denied the charges and stood trial at Basildon Crown Court. They were found guilty of all three charges on October 24.

Both had admitted charges of possession of criminal property at previous hearings in December 2017 and January 2018.

Caborn, 29, was charged with possession of criminal property, which he admitted.

Garrod and McVicar were given a life sentence with 12 years in prison and a minimum of six years to be served before being eligible for parole.

Caborn was sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Police recovered around £34,000 in total from all three men and an application for a confiscation order will be made under Proceeds of Crime Act.