Pair convicted over murder after Houghton Regis baby shower

Two men have been found guilty of murder over an attack following a baby shower celebration in a pub.

Adam Fanelli, 39, was fatally stabbed, while Patrick Howard, 27, was paralysed from a stab wound and dragged along a road underneath a car before dying in Houghton Regis on 13 November.

Anthony Bennison, 25, was convicted of two counts of murder.

Nicholas Papworth, 33, was cleared over Mr Fanelli's death, but found guilty of murdering Mr Howard.

The pair were remanded in custody at Luton Crown Court and are due to be sentenced on 3 August.

A third defendant, Mark Griffith, was cleared by the judge earlier in the trial.

The jury heard the attacks followed a baby shower celebration at The Crown Pub in Houghton Regis on the evening of Saturday 12 November.

After an earlier altercation, Bennison, of no fixed address, stabbed Mr Fanelli twice in the chest, the court heard.

Prosecutors said he then ran up to Mr Howard from behind and stabbed him in the neck, causing instant paralysis, and kicked him in the head.

The jury was told Papworth, of Amble Close, drove a car straight at Mr Howard after he had been stabbed.

His car dragged stricken Mr Howard's body along the road "for many metres before it fell free of the wheels," Prosecutor Simon Denison KC said.

Mr Denison told the jury the violence was "utterly senseless" and "truly extraordinary".

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