Man murders 51-year-old with plank of wood outside his home in Newport

A court has heard how a 51-year-old man was murdered after being attacked with a plank of wood.

Andrew Southwood, 39, killed Carl Ball, in an attack outside his home in Newport on 19 August 2022. The victim had been subjected to various assaults in the run-up to his death.

Ball was convicted of raping a woman and sexually abusing a child in 2001 for which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Mr Ball's flat in Heron Way, Duffryn, had been targeted with windows smashed and, on one occasion, was set alight, Newport Crown Court heard.

On the day of his death, Mr Ball had appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court and received a suspended prison sentence for possession of a blade.

He was later assaulted by a man called Otis Jeffries in an attack which was filmed but played no part in Mr Ball’s death.

Having called the police, Mr Ball was spoken to by two PCSOs before being driven back to his home.

However, 10 minutes later, the PCSOs who had dropped off Mr Ball were called back to the scene and discovered he was lying injured outside his flat.

The victim was “gaunt, pale, and complaining that he could not breathe”.

By this stage he was “slowly dying” from internal bleeding coming from muscle tissue and the spleen, which had been torn in multiple places.

Mr Ball told officers “Southwood” was responsible for the attack. He added: “They attacked me. They hit me with a stick. With a plank of wood… Southwood did it” and also said: “Plank of wood, massive plank of wood”.

He also told his sister Michelle, who arrived at the scene, that the person responsible was “Andrew Southwood”.

A helicopter ambulance attended the scene but Mr Ball’s condition deteriorated and he went into cardiac arrest.

During this period, Southwood, of Chaffinch Way, was in contact with Mr Ball’s neighbours Billy and Barry Williams, who lived above the victim.

Barry Williams sent the defendant aerial photographs of Mr Ball as he lay mortally wounded in his front yard.

Southwood later called Gwent Police after his partner Katie Ball received abusive messages from family about the victim.

He told police his “name had been mentioned” in relation to an assault on Mr Ball but did not know why. The defendant was arrested at 4am on 20 August.

Splinters taken from Mr Ball’s hoody, orange T-shirt, and Southwood’s trainers were found to have originated from the plank of wood.

The plank also contained a small blood stain but no DNA material could be traced but a further swabs contained DNA material linked to Mr Ball, Southwood, and two unknown individuals.

Giving evidence, Southwood admitted he was present when Mr Ball was attacked but claimed it was two men wearing Covid masks who had assaulted the victim.

Following a two-week trial, the defendant was found guilty of Mr Ball's murder on Wednesday 28 June after the jury retired to consider their verdict on Tuesday.

Mr Justice Griffiths thanked the jury for their service and said only one sentence was available to Southwood and that was one of life imprisonment.

He adjourned sentencing until 20 July when a minimum term will be set.

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