Stockton street murder pair jailed for life

The murdered man's sister said Neil Maxwell (left) and Luke Pearson were "bullies and cowards"

A pair who stripped, slashed and beat a man to death have been jailed for life.

Lee Cooper, 43, had more than 100 injuries after the attack in a street in Stockton, Teesside, in December.

Neil Maxwell, 40, who appeared in the Channel 4 show Benefits Street, admitted murder and was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court to life with a minimum term of 30 years.

Luke Pearson, 19, had denied murder but was found guilty, and was handed a minimum term of 23-and-a-half years.

Det Sgt Matthew Waterfield of Cleveland Police said it had been a "brutal, sustained attack".

"As a detective I have never dealt with such a horrific incident," he said.

The witnesses were brave to come forward, given the nature of the attack, and the case had been "very traumatic" for all concerned, he said.

'Bullies and cowards'

Mr Cooper's sister, Louise Cooper, said in court her brother was "respectful, caring and protective - he always protected people from bullies".

Looking at his attackers in the dock, she said: "They can't be called men or human.

"You both mutilated him - they are bullies and cowards."

Mr Cooper was attacked with a hammer, Stanley knife, knuckle-duster and a TV stand.

During the two-week trial, the jury heard from an Army surgeon who had served in Afghanistan, who described Mr Cooper's injuries as the worst he had ever seen.

The attack was the result of a "simmering feud" that developed after Maxwell, of Lytton Court, North Ormesby, and Pearson, of Westbourne Street, Stockton, had attacked a friend of the victim.

The court heard Maxwell had 14 previous convictions for assault and other violent offences.