Sadistic killer gets life for boy's murder

A POLICEMAN'S son who led a gang into a savage attack on a schoolboy before deciding he should be strangled and his body butchered into pieces was jailed for life yesterday.

Matthew Welsh, 19, who was said to have sadistic tendencies and a psychopathic personality, was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Adam Morrell in a house in Loughborough.

There were cries of elation from the public gallery as Welsh, who took the decision to kill the boy after a night of barbaric cruelty was given a recommendation to spend at least 20 years behind bars.

The young boy was punched, kicked and stamped on by the group of friends, doused in boiling water mixed with sugar and then strangled and cut up limb by limb in the bath, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Welsh's girlfriend, 17-year-old Sarah Morris, was jailed for four years after she was cleared of murder but convicted of deliberately attacking the schoolboy by the jury two weeks ago.

His best friend, Nathan Barnett, 27, was ordered to be detained indefinitely in secure accommodation under the Mental Health Act after he pleaded guilty to the boy's manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Daniel Biggs, 19, who was cleared of murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Adam but admitted to conspiring to pervert the course of justice was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in custody.

Mr Justice Morland, passing sentence at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday said: "Adam Morrell was 14-years-old. He was befriended by you four.

"Befriended is a totally inappropriate word to describe the callous manner in which he was treated with barbaric cruelty.

"When the Loughborough fair was in full swing, for two hours and probably several hours longer he was repeatedly assaulted, kicked, punched and stamped on.

"He sustained multiple injuries so that he was almost unrecognisable.

"None of you had the basic decency to stop the prolonged savagery of the beating or the humanity to see he got medical help."

The gang were taking ecstasy, smoking cannabis and drinking on the night of the attack last November, which is thought to have started when Adam began complaining about his girlfriend.

Welsh, who was the dominant member of the gang, punched the boy first, which sparked a prolonged attack during which they each took it in turns to beat him.

He, along with Barnett and Morris, continued to attack the boy as he drifted in and out of consciousness and each time he fell to the floor, they picked him up and beat him again.

Biggs just watched as the attack took place and said he was too scared to do anything to stop the gang.

Morris claimed that as Adam lay on a mattress in the house in Havelock Street, where his three attackers lived, he overheard the group discussing whether he should be killed.

Barnett later bought black plastic bags and tape and returned to the house, where he announced he was going to kill Adam, and strangled the young boy to death.

Morris, who was only just 16 at the time of the offence, turned up the music to drown out the noise as Adam choked to death. Barnett then put the body in the bath and began cutting it up with two saws and wrapping it in the plastic bags.

Mr Justice Morland, sentencing Welsh, said: "I am satisfied that although then not 19-years-old you were the dominant person in that group. You, Welsh, called the shots.

"You decided that Barnett, then aged 26 but mentally abnormal, should carry out the strangulation of Adam Morrell.

"You, Welsh, were the prime mover in the conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by lying to the police that Adam Morrell had left Havelock Street with Barnett.

"No doubt to some extent the callous selfishness of all four of you may be explained from your dysfunctional family background and by the drink and drugs that you were consuming over that period of time."

Passers-by later made the gruesome discoveries of the dismembered limbs in various parts of Loughborough, while Welsh and Morris frantically cleaned the house in an effort to hide the evidence.

Welsh persuaded Barnett to go to the police and admit to the killing, and they concocted a false account of events leading to the boy's death.

Welsh, who had previous convictions for theft, affray and criminal damage, remained expressionless in the dock as he was sentenced to life for murder, eight years for inflicting grievous bodily harm and four years for conspiring to pervert the course of justice, all of which were to run concurrently.

Morris, who was said to be vulnerable and immature, with underlying psychological problems, was in tears as she was jailed for four years for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, and two years concurrently for her part in the conspiracy.

The court heard Barnett, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, was infatuated with Welsh and susceptible to be influenced by others because of his condition. The judge also heard he had a lack of empathy and had chosen the catastrophic option when deciding what to do with the gravely injured schoolboy.

Mr Justice Morland told him: "Having heard your chilling evidence on behalf of Matthew Welsh of how you treated this 14-year-old before you coldly strangled him, I am satisfied that you are very dangerous."

Biggs, a former soldier with a previous caution for shoplifting on his record, was told a long custodial sentence for his part in the conspiracy could not be justified.

The judge told him: "I ignore the fact that on your own admission you sat and watched Adam Morrell being pulverised for two hours, and probably much longer, and did nothing about it.

"I accept that you were scared of Matthew Welsh."