Middlesbrough murderer Dean Williams jailed in absence

Dean Williams was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years

A "cowardly" drug addict who refused to leave his prison cell to be sentenced for murdering his friend has been jailed for at least 16 years.

Dean Williams, 50, was absent from the hearing at Teesside Crown Court over the killing of Ian Macneil.

Jurors had unanimously found him guilty of murdering heroin addict Mr Macneil, 46, in November 2021 with an empty bottle and walking stick.

Williams, from Middlesbrough, was jailed for life with a minimum term.

His Honour Judge Paul Watson KC, recorder of Middlesbrough, said Williams was a "cowardly character" who had refused to attend the last few days of his trial and the sentencing hearing because he could "not face the consequences" of what he had done.

He said 28 November 2021 had been a "cold and black night" and Mr Macneil, who was "sadly a habitual heroin user" had spent the day in Middlesbrough town centre trying to get drugs.

Ian Macneil's family said his drug and alcohol issues should not define him

Having got heroin, he then went to a mutual friend's flat on Southfield Road at about 21:30 GMT to take it, the judge said.

Williams, who had been taking crack cocaine, arrived at about 23:00 and demanded Mr Macneil give him his drugs but the victim refused.

The judge said Williams became "angry and upset" and launched a "brutal attack" on Mr Macneil, punching him repeatedly before striking him multiple times with an empty wine bottle and then beating him about the head with a walking stick.

Williams then took Mr Macneil to the kitchen to clean his bloody head wound, but the judge said he doubted Williams' motivation was anything other than "self-preservation".

Mr Macneil left the flat shortly before midnight and was found a short time later slumped in a doorway in Victoria Road by a police officer who initially thought he was drunk.

The judge said by that point Mr Macneil was probably already in a "moribund condition" and was "starting to suffer" from the injuries caused by Williams.

Ian Macneil was attacked at a flat on Southfield Road in Middlesbrough

He was taken to James Cook University Hospital where he was found to have a punctured lung, fractured ribs and subarachnoid haemorrhage, also known as bleeding on the brain.

Despite doctors' best efforts, he died 12 days later.

During his trial, Williams claimed Mr Macneil was a "friend" and had been injured before the killer got to the flat.

While on remand, Williams "inadvertently" ended up on the same wing as another man at the flat that night who was giving evidence in the trial and tried to persuade him to blame the attack on someone else, the court heard.

The judge said that was a "gross and obvious attempt" to "corrupt the evidence" which showed the type of "manipulative [and] coercive" man Williams was.

Dean Williams refused to attend his sentencing at Teesside Crown Court

In a statement read to the court, Mr Macneil's mother Carole said her son's "issues" with alcohol and drugs "should not define him".

She said he was "lovely and kind-hearted" and "just wanted to live a quiet life", adding he was not violent or aggressive.

Mr Macneil was a "loving, caring son, brother and uncle" who visited her almost daily, she said, adding it was "absolute torture" knowing she would never see him again.

Williams was also sentenced for criminal damage when he smeared faeces around a police station cell on 7 September 2021 and for causing £8,064 worth of damage to the roof of a probation office five days later when he went up there drunk and threw roof tiles down during a four-hour standoff with emergency services.