A man who murdered his partner's sex offender brother by beating him with a wooden plank has been jailed for life.
Andrew Southwood, 39, attacked convicted rapist and paedophile Carl Ball, 51, outside the sex criminal's home in Newport on August 19 last year.
Ball suffered internal bleeding that eventually led to his death.
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Southwood denied murder and manslaughter but was found guilty of Ball's murder last month at Newport Crown Court.
Following the conviction Southwood was today (Thursday, July 20) sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years.
He was also ordered to pay a £228 surcharge.
Ball had been subjected to a swathe of assaults prior to his death.
The court heard his flat in the South Wales city had been targeted on numerous occasions, including having its windows smashed in and on one occasion being set on fire.
On the day of his death, Ball had appeared at the same court his killer would eventually be sentenced and was handed a suspended prison sentence for possession of a blade.
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He was then assaulted by a man called Otis Jeffries in a filmed attack that played no part in his death.
Ball phoned police and was spoken to by two PCSOs before being driven back to his home.
He was then seen walking in the direction of a neighbour's house and was seen speaking to a man in a white car.
Minutes later the PCSOs were called back to the scene where they found him lying injured outside his flat.
The court heard he was "gaunt, pale, and complaining that he could not breathe" when he was found.
Despite his injuries Ball was able to tell officers "Southwood" was responsible for the attack.
He said: "They attacked me. They hit me with a stick. With a plank of wood… Southwood did it."
In court, prosecutor Mark Cotter KC said of Ball: "He had led a troubled life. He was a Class A drug user as well as being a heavy drinker.
"In December of 2001 he was convicted of the rape of an adult female and the sexual abuse of a child.
"He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He served that sentence and was released back into the community."
Southwood admitted he was present when Ball was attacked but claimed it was two men wearing Covid masks who had assaulted the victim.
However, after a two-week trial ending on June 28 the defendant was convicted by a unanimous jury, with Mr Justice Griffiths saying at the time that life imprisonment was the only sentence available to Southwood.
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