Man found guilty of Christmas murder recorded on device

KILLER FACING LIFE SENTENCE

- By GLYN BELLIS

A FORMER jeweller was yesterday found guilty of the Christmas Day murder of a neighbour in a ‘cold and calculated’ attack caught on tape.

The chilling recording of the killing and 68-year-old Harry Turner’s last words as he struggled for breath were heard during a trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.

It took three-and-a-half hours for a jury to find James Hughes, 67, guilty of the murder in sheltered accommodation flats close to the cathedral at St Asaph, Denbighshire.

Mr Justice Nicklin adjourned sentencing until next week when he will decide the minimum term Hughes will serve for his life sentence.

During the three-minute recording on a device worn by Hughes, he told Mr Turner, who had heart disease: ‘You can die for all I care.’

The prosecution said the defendant was on top of the victim who was gasping for breath. When Mr Turner said he couldn’t breathe, the defendant had replied: ‘What a f***ing shame’.

Mr Turner’s last words were: ‘I can’t’.

Hughes denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, claiming Mr Turner was the aggressor.