CHILLING SELFIE
Murder victim with the friend who killed him and woman who helped in trying to cover up the crime
MURDERER Richard Spottiswood has been jailed for 22 years for dumping a man in a shallow grave while he was still alive.
Drug lord Spottiswood choked Darren Bonner in a caravan in Cresswell, Northumberland, fearing he had betrayed him to a rival dealer.
After putting him in the back of a former police riot van, Spottiswood dumped the 24-year-old in a shallow grave near the picturesque village.
A walker discovered Mr Bonner alive, but he died in hospital 16 days later.
Spottiswood, 34, of Canterbury Way, Jarrow, denied murder but was unanimously convicted at Newcastle Crown Court following a two-week trial.
Now, the murderer has been given a life sentence and told he will serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars.
Handing down his sentence yesterday morning, Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “Darren Bonner wanted to fit in and belong. He was much loved and looking forward to the future.
“By your actions, Richard Spottiswood, he was deprived – at such a young age – of making something of his life.”
Jurors were told during the trial that Mr Bonner worked for Spottiswood at his garage business in South Shields – as well as being a part of his illegal cannabis operation. Mr Bonner had joined Spottiswood and partner Lucy Burn for a weekend away at Cresswell Towers Caravan Park last July, where the court heard a “heated argument” broke out.
Prosecutor Timothy Roberts QC said: “From a position of total physical control, Spottiswood applied as much force as he believed would be necessary.
“When he was rendered unconscious, Spottiswood believed him dead. He left him in a shallow grave in the remote countryside.”
Mr Bonner was found alive by police officers on July 10 after a passer-by heard noises coming from behind a dry-stone wall.
He died more than two weeks later due to irreversible brain damage suffered from his brain being starved of oxygen and blood.
Spottiswood claimed at trial he acted in self-defence following an argument at the side of the recently dug hole.
But Judge Ashurst rejected this claim, insisting the cannabis dealer subjected his victim to an “untimely, violent and undignified death” and left the shallow grave uncovered as