Man beat homeless victim to death with metal bar

Evan Lyons admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility

A man who battered a homeless man to death with a dumbbell bar has been sentenced to indefinite detention in a high security hospital.

Evan Lyons, 27, brutally attacked Christopher Phillips, 42, as the victim was sleeping in a hallway at a Gateshead flat block in August 2023, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Lyons was charged with murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, with the court hearing he had been diagnosed with "severe" paranoid schizophrenia exacerbated by his drug use.

He had earlier attacked an asylum seeker with a pizza cutter in a racist attack and went on to partially blind a fellow inmate at HMP Durham with a pool cue, the court heard.

Mr Phillips was a homeless man with a drug addiction who had spent several days sleeping on landings at Tennyson Court, a 12-storey block of flats in Felling, in August 2023, prosecutor Mark McKone KC said.

At about 08:40 BST on 14 August, a resident emerged from a lift on the sixth floor to find Mr Phillips lying in a large pool of blood in the hallway, the court heard.

Christopher Phillips was killed on 14 August 2023

Police and paramedics arrived and Mr Phillips, who was originally from Berwick, was declared dead by 09:00, the court heard.

Officers found a 1.5m-long (5ft) metal bar used to lift weights with one end covered in Mr Phillips' blood in Lyons' flat, Mr McKone said.

Lyons' DNA was found on the opposite end of the bar, the court heard.

The court heard he was initially interviewed as a witness and asked officers if they had ever killed anyone before saying "I killed someone this morning", then adding: "I'm only joking."

He also said he had paranoid schizophrenia, having been diagnosed in 2015, but had stopped taking his medication a week before the attack, the court heard.

Mr Philips was found to have been struck multiple times about the head, with his death caused by catastrophic brain injuries, the court heard.

Christopher Phillips was killed at Tennyson Court when Evan Lyons lived

The victim was under the influence of drugs including heroin, cocaine and cannabis and might have been unconscious when he was attacked, with no sign of defensive injuries, Mr McKone said.

As well as paranoid schizophrenia, Lyons had also been diagnosed with other mental and behavioural disorders caused by his use of drugs and "psychoactive substances", Mr McKone said.

Lyons had 89 convictions on his record and was subject to a suspended prison sentence at the time of the fatal attack for possessing a knife and axe, the court heard.

He also had convictions for wounding, attempted robbery and having weapons including a ninja star and knuckleduster, the court heard.

Three months before he killed Mr Phillips, Lyons shouted racist abuse at an asylum seeker as he attacked the man with a pizza cutter, leaving the victim with scars on his chin and lip, Mr McKone said.

In February 2024, while being held in HMP Durham, Lyons smacked another inmate in the face with a snooker cue, snapping it and leaving the victim blind in his right eye, the court heard.

When asked by prison staff why he attacked the man, Lyons replied "because I wanted to," the court heard.

'Dangerous offender'

The court heard it might be that Lyons, who appeared in court in handcuffs surrounded by five security staff, would never be safe to be moved out of a secure mental hospital.

Judge Edward Bindloss said it was not possible to say how many times Mr Phillips was struck, but the lack of defensive injuries indicated he was "taken unawares".

He said Lyons was a "dangerous offender" who posed a "significant risk of serious harm" to others.

The judge said Lyons' paranoid schizophrenia was "severe" and "not responding to treatment".

Lyons would only be released when deemed safe by medical experts, the court heard.

He also admitted possessing a weapon and wounding in relation to the pizza cutter attack, and inflicting grievous bodily harm over the prison incident.