KILLER STABBED AND MUTILATED HIS MATE IN CITY FLAT
LEVEL OF VIOLENCE IN ATTACK WAS ‘SHOCKING’ SAYS DETECTIVE
A KILLER mutilated his friend’s body after beating and stabbing him to death during a heavy drinking session, writes Suzy Gibson.
Martin Green, pictured, initially denied murdering Stuart Morris but unexpectedly changed his plea to confess his guilt in court yesterday.
The officer in charge of the inquiry, Detective Inspector Kenny Henry, said: “The sheer level of violence used in this crime was shocking.”
A KILLER mutilated his friend’s body after beating and stabbing him to death during a heavy drinking session.
Martin Green, 50, initially denied murdering Stuart Morris but unexpectedly changed his plea to confess his guilt, in a dramatic turn of events.
Mr Morris’ body was found in Green’s flat in Heathcott Road, Saffron Lane, in Leicester, on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 14.
He sustained multiple injuries and died from a combination of catastrophic trauma to the head and knife wounds.
Green was due to stand trial at Leicester Crown Court today, with the prosecution expected to open the Crown’s case.
The jury was sworn in yesterday. However, Green’s defence counsel, Michael Auty QC, spent more than an hour with the defendant in the court cells this morning, before the proceedings started.
Mr Auty told Judge Philip Head: “The case won’t proceed to trial.”
The jury was brought into court to see Green, dressed in a baggy grey tracksuit, plead guilty to the murder of his friend, 50-year-old Mr Morris.
Judge Head then told the jurors: “Yesterday when the clerk read out the charge of murder you were put in charge to say whether the defendant was guilty or not guilty.
“It’s your responsibility to return the verdict in the case.
“You know very little about the case, you know no more than the charge.
“You now have the best possible evidence the defendant is guilty - because he has admitted it in front of you.”
One of the jurors then announced a guilty verdict on the judge’s direction.
Mr Auty said: “In due course there will be only one sentence and that’s imprisonment for life.”
The judge then told the jury that
Green had a “large number of criminal convictions” on his record, mainly for dishonesty.
Judge Head said to the prosecutor, Pavlos Panayi QC: “He has not got any convictions for a high degree of violence in the past?”
Mr Panayi replied: “That’s correct, he has not.”
Mr Morris was father to four daughters and a step-daughter. He had five grandchildren, two brothers and two sisters.
Following the hearing a spokesperson for the family said: “We are all shocked and overwhelmed at this turn of events.”
Green had spent the Monday night before the killing drinking at Mr Morris’ home in the Saffron Lane area of Leicester.
At 8am the next day, the two men took a taxi to Green’s flat in Heathcott Road.
The killing took place in the defendant’s flat that afternoon.
The police were alerted by a neighbour and attended the scene at about 5.25pm.
Green had used a vacuum cleaner pole and a knife to inflict the fatal injuries.
Green fabricated a story that he had been out to the shops and returned to find his friend dead.
CCTV evidence, witness statements and a forensic examination of the scene quickly revealed Green’s web of lies and he was charged with murder.
The prosecutor did not outline the case against Green, but he made reference to the defendant “mutilating the deceased’s body after the events,” in an attempt to impede a criminal investigation. He said it was an aggravating feature of the case.
Mr Panayi added: “A good number of people were affected by this awful crime and they are processing what has happened today.
“They should now have time to consider what they would like to say (in personal impact statements).”
The judge adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.
Green, who remained expressionless throughout, was remanded back into custody.
Detective Inspector Kenny Henry said: “Stuart suffered a horrific death at the hands of Green, a man who he thought was his friend.
“I have been a detective for many years and dealt with a number of serious cases where a degree of violence was used. However, the sheer level of violence used in this crime was shocking.
“I am pleased Green has admitted to the murder and spared the family the traumatic experience of hearing the details of Stuart’s last hours during the court proceedings.”