GUILTY UK - Darren Bonner, 24, Cresswell, Northumberland 10 July 2017

[Amonet]

Jurors find him guilty after more than ten hours deliberation. More to follow...

Garage boss guilty of murdering worker

Will the judge be able to take priors into consideration in sentencing?

RS seems like a great danger to society.

 

[Tortoise]

Will the judge be able to take priors into consideration in sentencing?

RS seems like a great danger to society.

I would think so in terms of assessing his danger.

I'm so pleased they saw through him. I'm expecting a lot to come out about this guy, I expect intimidation was one of his specialties.

 

[Tortoise]

I wonder if this means he will be sentenced at 3pm? I would hope the judge will request sentencing reports first.

Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 15:00 - 14:12
Trial (Part Heard) - Hearing finished for RICHARD JAMES SPOTTISWOOD - 14:21

Newcastle Crown Court Case Listings, Hearings, Records & Status Details

 

[Tortoise]

Smashed up nose by the looks of it

14:38
Murderer's mugshot released
Northumbria Police have released the mugshot of Richard Spottiswood, who was found guilty of the murder of Darren Bonner:

Darren Bonner murder trial - man denies shallow grave killing

 

[UKWend]

Great coverage Tortoise, thank you

 

[Tortoise]

Thanks UKWend.

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE
Spottiswood 'truly cold and despicable' — Police
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fairlamb, from Northumbria Police, said he is pleased that a dangerous man has now been convicted.

He said:

“This has been a tragic time for Darren Bonner’s family and my thoughts go out to them. I absolutely have to commend their bravery throughout this ordeal.



“Even after Spottiswood admitted to choking Darren, he has continued to go on and defend his actions claiming it was an accident.



“The fact that Darren was left in such a critical condition – barely breathing and lying in a shallow grave – absolutely shows how truly cold and despicable Spottiswood is.



“Darren was only 24 years old when his life was cruelly cut short and he will be greatly missed by his family and friends.”

Darren Bonner murder trial - man denies shallow grave killing

 

[Tortoise]

15:15
Sentencing not today
The sentencing of Richard Spottiswood will take place another day, we understand.

Darren Bonner murder trial - man denies shallow grave killing

Wakey wakey. He must have been asleep when they gave the sentencing date.

 

[Legally Bland]

Absolutely the correct verdict IMO.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Man guilty of 'shallow grave' murder

 

[Kasmeer]

Glad the jury didn't fall for it, sounded fairly clear on what was reported that the story was less than believeable. Hope his previous can indeed be taken into account; he's obviously dangerous to others and should stay away for a very long time. I wish we had US-length sentences for violent crime, it should be about public protection more than prisoner's rights - anyone who clearly will reoffend shouldn't get out!

 

[Legally Bland]

After the guilty verdict was returned, Judge Stephen Ashhurst told the jury: “In the light of your verdict it will fall to me to sentence Richard Spottiswood.

“That will be a sentence of imprisonment for life. I’m required to set out and state the minimum period he should serve.

“In that regard it’s traditional for the court to hear submissions about what the starting point should be and the aggravating and mitigating circumstances.”

[...]

Spottiswood, of Canterbury Way, Jarrow, was further remanded in custody and will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

Judge Ashurst lifted a reporting restriction referring to an aborted trial in relation to the murder earlier this year in which Spottiswood’s partner was acquitted of murder at the direction of the judge.

She had pleaded guilty to assisting an offender, in that, knowing Spottiswood had committed an offence of murder, she took various steps to tell lies in support of him.

Garage boss found GUILTY of murdering man found fatally injured in shallow grave

 

[Legally Bland]

At an earlier trial, which collapsed at the half-way point, Spottiswood’s girlfriend Lucy Burn, 29, of Burns Close, South Shields, who had originally been jointly charged with Mr Bonner’s murder, was cleared over the killing. She pleaded guilty to an offence of assisting an offender in relation to her having “taken various steps to tell lies in support of the defendant” while knowing he had committed an offence of murder.

She will be sentenced at the same hearing.

‘Despicable’ South Shields garage boss guilty of murdering Sunderland employee

 

[Tortoise]

I really thought it could be touch and go whether they believed his sob story. I'll bet he'll be another one who never admits his guilt. I wouldn't want to be serving a sentence within a mile of him.

 

[Tortoise]

Thank you for changing the thread title.

Guilty!

 

[Tortoise]

John Brennan of the CPS, said: “Richard Spottiswood had invited Darren Bonner to join him on a family holiday at a caravan park in Cresswell. The pair had socialised over the weekend but, once the rest of the family had returned home, Spottiswood suddenly turned on him. After placing him in a headlock, he choked him with such force that Darren would ultimately die from the catastrophic injuries inflicted.

“In an attempt to hide what he had done Spottiswood then drove Darren to a shallow grave he had prepared in nearby undergrowth, where he left him naked to die. Had it not been for a passing member of the public later that morning, he may never have been found.

“Throughout the investigation and prosecution of this case Spottiswood has made every attempt to evade justice for Darren’s murder, but the CPS and Police have worked closely to build a very robust case against him. By piecing together significant amounts of CCTV, mobile phone records, eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence we have been able to clearly show the means by which he took Darren’s life and also his failed attempt to hide what he had done."

Murderer left naked victim to die in shallow grave

 

[JerseyGirl]

Garage boss will serve at least 22 years for murder of worker who he left to die in a shallow grave

 

[Legally Bland]

July 2019

The garage boss was jailed for life last year for murdering 24-year-old Darren Bonner, who was found dying in a shallow grave in Northumberland last year.

But he has now taken his case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to get his conviction overturned.

Top judges in London rejected his appeal against the Newcastle Crown Court jury's verdict.

However, they agreed to knock two years off the 22-year minimum term of Spottiswood's life sentence, meaning he can now be considered for parole after 20 years.

Shallow grave killer Richard Spottiswood has jail sentence cut