Life for binman who killed Scots lover with a tray in lockdown row
A BINMAN who killed his partner with a plastic tray during a lockdown row has been jailed for life.
Wayne Morris told police he could not remember attacking Ruth Brown but said he ‘must have done it because nobody else could have done it’.
He claimed he could not walk away from a row they had because of the restrictions.
Days after the attack on Mrs Brown, originally from Govan, Glasgow, Morris messaged his brother saying: ‘I’ve killed Ruth.’ He also texted Mrs Brown’s daughter Lauren, 22, saying her mother was ‘not in a very good way’, and told her 16-year-old son his mother was still in bed as she had taken too much to drink the night before.
Morris, 47, was convicted of murder at Brighton Crown Court and will serve at least 17 years. Speaking on behalf of the family, Mrs Brown’s brother, Frank Brown, said: ‘Ruth was taken from us in the most terrible and tragic of circumstances.
‘Wayne Morris has said on several occasions during this trial that he will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. He is not the only one.’
The court had heard that Morris and Mrs Brown, 52, had been in a relationship for several years but lived separately.
In April last year, Morris moved from his home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, into Miss Brown’s home nearby because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mrs Brown, who had lung condition COPD, had told friends she was terrified of catching coronavirus and wanted furloughed Morris to move in to look after her.
Neighbours heard banging from the house on April 8 last year. Morris later told police he found his partner lying on the kitchen floor the following morning after a night of heavy drinking. He said the couple had been drunk and argued.
He battered her with a tray, causing two skull fractures and fatal brain injuries. Experts told a court she had been hit at least four times.
Morris told police: ‘She was giving me grief. We had an argument. I don’t remember what it was about. Normally I would walk home but because of the lockdown I couldn’t.
‘In the morning... I saw that Ruth was lying face down on the floor in the kitchen.’
Morris said he moved Mrs Brown to her bed before going to his own house.
Mrs Brown’s son’s impact statement was read to the court. He said: ‘I don’t feel Wayne Morris is sorry at all.’