Life in jail for ‘less than human’ killer
AKILLER was told he ‘seems less than human’ by his victim’s grieving former partner as he was jailed for life for the torture murder of an ‘intelligent, kind and gentle’ man in his own home.
When Anthony Bennett was arrested, he was wearing clothes he had taken from his victim, Joe O’Hanlon.
He had subjected the frail 61-year-old to a brutal, prolonged attack over several days.
Bennett, 43, of no fixed address, was told on Wednesday he must serve a minimum of 21 years before parole can be considered at Manchester Crown Court.
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Goss told Bennett, who admitted murder and two earlier assaults: “This was a dreadful case of callous brutality.”
Alcoholic Joe had invited his killer, a fellow heavy drinker, in for a session on Thursday, April 28.
At the time, Bennett was wanted for breaching bail conditions.
He had beaten up two other men, turning on them for no reason after drinking with them in their homes, in incidents that would foreshadow Joe’s tragic murder.
While Joe lay dying or dead on the floor, Bennett took charge of his Town Mill Brow flat at College Bank for several days, coming and going as he pleased and sleeping in his victim’s bed.
Troubled Joe had been a charity worker, a magazine editor and a poet.
But drink and depression had taken him to the brink of destitution, and his generosity had attracted ‘vultures’ who stole regularly from him, the court heard.
Joe’s battered body was found by his best friend and former partner, Linda Healey, in his messy highrise flat shortly after Bennett had left on May 2.
Police and prosecutors believed Bennett turned on Joe during their drinking session, and then tortured him for cash before ransacking the place.
In total, Joe had suffered 90 different wounds.
His former partner Linda Healey, took to the witness box at the sentencing to deliver a moving victim impact statement.
She said: “My grief is compounded by the mindless violence perpetrated on a frail, gentle man by someone who seems less than human to me. The thought of Joe suffering makes me weep, thinking of the fear and horror he must experienced.
“I ask why? How could this happen to poor Joe? To anyone?” have