‘Man murdered convicted rapist with plank’ – court
AMAN murdered a convicted rapist with a plank of wood and kept in contact with neighbours for updates about his condition, a trial has heard. Having been attacked, the victim suffered internal bleeding and later died as a result of his injuries.
Andrew Southwood, 39, is accused of murdering Carl Ball, 51, who was found fatally injured on the door of his home in Newport on August 19, 2022. The defendant, who was in a relationship with the victim’s sister, denies the charge.
A trial at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard Mr Ball lived a “troubled life”, was a user of class A drugs and a heavy drinker. In 2001 he was convicted of raping a woman and the sexual abuse of a child, for which he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
A few weeks before his death, Mr Ball moved to a flat in Heron Way, in Duffryn, and had been the victim of several assaults. His flat had also been targeted with windows smashed and, on one occasion, was set alight.
Addressing the jury, prosecutor Mark Cotter KC said: “Carl Ball died on August 19, 2022, as the result of a ferocious attack upon him that involved the use of a weapon. The prosecution case is that the person who wielded that weapon intended to cause really serious physical harm to Mr Ball and inflict the terrible injuries that caused him to die. Therefore, the prosecution assert that this is a case of murder.
“The prosecution cannot say whether the fatal attack was motivated by knowledge of Carl Ball’s criminal past. However, in a case of murder the prosecution is not required to prove why the person in question was murdered. Rather, the prosecution is required to prove who it was that carried out the murder.”
On the day of his death, Mr Ball had received a suspended prison sentence for possession of a blade and had appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court. He was later assaulted by a man called Otis Jeffries in an attack which was filmed, but played no part in Mr Ball’s death.
The victim called the police and was spoken to by two PCSOs. He was driven back to his home but he walked to the home of a neighbour Billy Williams and was last seen talking to a man in a white car outside the property. Mr Cotter said: “No more than around 10 minutes from the interaction between Mr Ball and the man in the white car, Mr Ball was being beaten to death.” During the attack, the victim managed to call the police, who were able to hear several heavy thuds and the sound of Mr Ball crying out in pain.
When police arrived at the scene, Mr Ball was “gaunt, pale and complaining that he could not breathe”. The court heard he was “slowly dying” from internal bleeding coming from muscle tissue and the spleen, which had been torn in multiple places.
Mr Cotter said: “It would take Mr Ball several hours to die. The internal blood loss, which was massive, eventually reached a stage where the loss of blood was so great that Mr Ball’s heart stopped beating.”
As he lay dying, Mr Ball told officers “Southwood” was responsible for the attack. He added: “They attacked me. They hit me with a stick. With a plank of wood… Southwood did it” and “plank of wood, massive plank of wood”. He also told his sister Michelle, who arrived at the scene, that the person responsible was “Andrew Southwood”.
A helicopter ambulance attended the scene but Mr Ball’s condition deteriorated and he went into cardiac arrest. CPR was given but despite the best efforts of the emergency services Mr Ball was pronounced dead at 8.29pm.
During this period, Southwood, of Chaffinch Way, was in contact with Mr Ball’s neighbours Billy Williams and Barry Williams, who lived above the victim. Barry Williams sent the defendant aerial photographs of Mr Ball as he lay mortally wounded in his front yard.
Southwood later called Gwent Police after his partner Katie Ball received abusive messages from family about the victim. He told police his “name had been mentioned” in relation to an assault on Mr Ball but did not know why.
The defendant was arrested at 4am on August 20 and his home was searched but police could not find two mobiles. One of the handsets was found at the home of Derrick Murray, who was believed to have attended Chaffinch Way the previous evening.
Southwood gave no comment during his police interviews.
A post-mortem examination on Mr Ball’s body revealed he had sustained fractures to his shoulder blade and several rib fractures, consistent with being struck with a blunt instrument.
The internal bleeding was caused by damage caused to muscle tissue and the spleen. Forensic evidence was also compiled, including Mr Ball’s clothing, Southwood’s trainers, and a plank of wood found near Chaffinch Way.
Splinters taken from Mr Ball’s hoodie, orange T-shirt and Southwood’s trainers were found to have originated from the plank of wood.
The plank also contained a small blood stain, but no DNA material could be traced but a further swab contained DNA material linked to Mr Ball, Southwood and two unknown individuals.
Concluding his opening, Mr Cotter said: “The various sources of evidence in this case complement and support each other.
“The prosecution case is that when those sources of evidence are combined, they establish that Andrew Southwood was the man who murdered Carl Ball.
“We may never know for sure why he did it and we may never know for sure whether others participated in the attack.
“However, the prosecution case is that Andrew Southwood wielded that plank of wood, as Carl Ball said he did, and struck Mr Ball with it multiple times using such force that he broke bones and caused massive and ultimately fatal internal injury.”
The trial continues.