Man given life sentence for murdering friend

A 51-year-old man has been handed a life sentence for murdering his friend after an argument.

Lee Llewellyn stabbed 32-year-old Martin Hefferman at a house in Honeysuckle Close, Bradley Stoke, during the early hours of 18 November 2023.

Llewellyn, of Froomshaw Road in Bristol had denied murder and claimed that Mr Hefferman had accidentally fallen onto his knife.

But he was found guilty by a jury following a nine day trial at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.

On Friday, he was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years before he can be considered for parole.

Llewellyn had denied murder and claimed that Mr Hefferman had accidentally fallen onto the knife.

The jury was told that Llewellyn and Mr Hefferman had been at a party for 48 hours with two women and drugs and alcohol had been consumed.

Neither of the women saw the fatal stabbing, but they told police they had witnessed an argument between the two men.

One of the women called the police at about 03:20 BST and Mr Hefferman died shortly after 04:00.

When police arrived, Llewellyn told officers he had "stabbed the guy" but that it had been an accident and that he had sustained rib injuries in an altercation before picking up a knife.

A pathologist’s report concluded Mr Hefferman died of a single stab wound to his upper chest, damaging his heart.

The prosecution argued the severity of the injury and the location of the wound showed Llewellyn intended to kill or cause very serious injury.

Det Insp Mark Newbury said it was clear there had been a dispute between the two men but whatever caused it "cannot justify the conscious decision Llewellyn made to grab a knife, which he used to kill Martin".

“It may have been a decision made in the heat of the moment, but it is inconceivable he would not have recognised bringing a knife into the argument could have tragic consequences. Sadly, that proved the case," he added.

“He then made several telling admissions to police after being arrested.

"Martin was a young man whose life was snatched away from him."

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.