Middlesbrough drug addict murdered man with bottle of Lambrini for 'refusing to share drugs'
A drug addict has been found guilty of murder after killing a fellow user for "refusing to share drugs".
Dean James Williams, 50, smashed an empty bottle of Lambrini over victim Ian Macneil's head before hitting him with a walking stick at a bedsit in Middlesbrough.
He then took him to the kitchen to clean the blood from him before attacking him again. Mr Macneil was seen staggering around on CCTV before being found sitting in a doorway in the early hours of Sunday 28 November.
He was taken to James Cook Hospital, but he died 12 days later from a brain haemorrhage. He had also suffered a punctured lung.
Williams, of Southfield Road Middlesbrough, denied murder but was found guilty following a trial at Teesside Crown Court. He declined to attend court for the decision.
On the first day of the trial, the court heard Mr Macneil had arrived at his friend George Burns' bedsit, at 9:37pm on Saturday. He had heroin with him, and he wanted somewhere to take it out of the cold.
Jamie Hill KC said that George Burns, who has since died, was an alcoholic and that people congregated in his bedsit on Southfield Road in Middlesbrough, to drink and take drugs.
Williams arrived later that evening and a row broke out when he asked Mr Macneil for some of his heroin.
The prosecution said that Williams punched Mr Macneil in the face before hitting him with the glass bottle. He then used the walking stick to continue hitting the victim over the head.
Following the verdict, Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Simone Bennett, said: “Ian was dearly loved by his family and friends and they will now have to live the rest of their lives without him. I am pleased that Williams has now been convicted and will spend significant time behind bars to pay for what he has done.
"I hope this will bring some form of comfort to Ian’s family.”
Williams will be sentenced on Friday 11 August.
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