Two jailed after victim's skull caved in during 'horrific' homophobic attack in Peterborough

A vulnerable man had a machete held to his throat and was punched so hard his skull caved in during a "horrific" homophobic attack.

The victim was set upon by 42-year-old Lee Norwell and a 17-year-old boy as he went to buy drugs in the Stanground area of Peterborough in August 2021.

Norwell made homophobic comments to the 45-year-old man before he and the teenager demanded the victim hand over his money, phone and wallet.

After the man hesitated, Norwell started punching him in the head and ordered him to remove his clothes, Cambridge Crown Court was told.

He then dragged the half-naked man to another room and tried to set fire to his hair. The 17-year-old shouted threats before pulling a machete from his trousers and holding it against the man's throat.

The court heard the victim was punched in the face several times by someone wearing a knuckle duster, fracturing his skill and causing it to cave in.

The attack lasted around 20 minutes before the pair stopped to discuss stabbing the man, cutting his fingers off and setting him on fire.

During the pause, the man managed to escape and flagged down a member of the public who called an ambulance.

Both Norwell and the 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, were found guilty of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm with intent following a trial in May.

Norwell was sentenced to nine years in prison while the teenager was jailed for four years.

Det Con Matt Slater, of Cambridgeshire Police, said the sentences showed hate crimes were taken very seriously by both police and the courts.

"This was a horrific attack on a vulnerable man, motivated in part by homophobic behaviour from Norwell," he said.

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