Billy Henham: Brighton New Year's Eve party murderers convicted

Four men have been convicted of the murder of a man at a New Year's Eve party.

Billy Henham, 24, was found in North Street, Brighton, on 2 January 2020.

He was last seen at 18:00 GMT on 31 December 2019, at the party in the street.

Alize Spence, 18 and from Ealing, Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20 and from Hampton, and Gregory Hawley, 29, and Dushane Meikle, 28, were all found guilty of murder.

Mr Henham, from Henfield, West Sussex, died after being "savagely beaten, kicked, stamped on and struck with a wooden bannister spindle", Sussex Police said.

A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered more than 60 injuries including a brain haemorrhage, 11 rib fractures, extensive cuts and bruising to the scalp, face, and neck.

Police were called to a disused building in North Street, Brighton, on 2 January after receiving reports a man had been beaten and dropped from a balcony after party at that location at New Year.

Sussex Police said forensic evidence showed the attack had started on the second floor of the building before Mr Henham was dragged to the first-floor and dropped over railings into a recessed courtyard about 11ft (3.3m) below.

Police added that he had been stripped of his clothes and disinfectant had been used to wash his body and to clean up bloodstaining in the building.

Gregory Hawley, who ran the building as a squat, allegedly bragged about the attack and confessed to stripping Mr Henham and dousing his body in bleach, police said.

Ducshane Meikle was also found to have deleted images of Mr Henham's body from his phone.

As each verdict was read out at Maidstone Crown Court, Mr Henham's mother Debbie Henham sobbed.

Judge Mr Justice Cavanagh said he wanted to "pay sincere tribute to your [Billy's parents'] courage".

He said: "No-one could fail to be touched by your loss."

The judge said that while life was the only sentence for murder, it was up to him to fix a minimum term until parole could be applied for.

Mr Henham's family said he was a "kind and peaceful" young man and was creative and independent.

Speaking after the verdicts, his father Ian Henham said: "We've had to deal with the pandemic at the same time as the tragic loss of our son. It's been very, very hard.

"We're ever so grateful to Sussex Police for all that they've done, right from the very outset."

Det Supt Alex Geldart said: "Bill went out on New Year's Eve, a young man of 24, with a tenner in his pocket and his dad's mobile phone number written on a bit of paper, to enjoy seeing in the new year with friends.

"Within a matter of hours his life was taken away from him cruelly and senselessly by the four men who've today been found guilty of murder."

The four men will be sentenced at a later date.

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