A 21-year-old homophobic man, Joseph Williams, has been jailed for 14 years for battering his gay flatmate with a claw hammer leaving him with “life-changing” injuries.
18-year-old Connor Huntley was on May 28, 2013 attacked while he was sleeping in the two-bedroom apartment he shared with Williams.
After committing the horrific act, Williams called the police and confessed. When medics arrived the scene, they saw the deadly weapon still embedded in Huntley’s skull.
William, in his call to the police said: “I don’t know how to say this but he’s dead in my flat. I hit him on the head with a hammer in his sleep.”
Asked if there was a reason he had done it, he replied: “No, my mental health just deteriorated.”
The victim was lucky to survive the traumatic assault, but now suffers from epilepsy and has been robbed of his independence.
Williams started a 14-year jail term on Monday, September 8, 2014 after being convicted of attempted murder at the Old Bailey.
Judge Jeremy Donne QC said: “The injuries suffered by Connor Huntley were little short of catastrophic, they have been life changing.
“It’s fortunate in the extreme for him that he did not die. That’s only down to the skill of the medical personal treating him.
“But he will never be able to live an independent life, never enjoy the things young people enjoy doing. You have taken away a good part of his life.”
His trial heard Williams had made “disparaging comments about gay people” before the attack at the shared flat in Margate, Kent.
He also told a neighbour he did not think he could live with Mr Huntley – who was a cross-dresser – because he would “end up hitting him”.
Mr Huntley’s family said in a statement: “Whilst Connor is making slow but steady progress from this horrific ordeal, we feel he has been handed his own life sentence by this hideous act.
“No one deserves to be so viciously attacked in such an evil manner, regardless of race, age, gender or sexuality.”
Judge Donne said Williams will be locked up in a mental health hospital until he is fit to go to prison as he is suffering from depression and was developing schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
