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Joshua and Jerome Ellis guilty of stepfather killing | Joshua and Jerome Ellis guilty of stepfather killing |
(35 minutes later) | |
Two brothers have been found guilty of killing their stepfather in a knife attack that left him with more than 60 wounds at the family home in Surrey. | Two brothers have been found guilty of killing their stepfather in a knife attack that left him with more than 60 wounds at the family home in Surrey. |
Joshua Ellis, 23, was convicted of murder and his brother, Jerome Ellis, 14, was found guilty of manslaughter on grounds of loss of control. | Joshua Ellis, 23, was convicted of murder and his brother, Jerome Ellis, 14, was found guilty of manslaughter on grounds of loss of control. |
Both had denied murder but admitted manslaughter, at Guildford Crown Court. | |
Jurors heard they attacked Neil Tulley, 54, as he lay on the sofa at the house in Cedar Way, Guildford, last August. | Jurors heard they attacked Neil Tulley, 54, as he lay on the sofa at the house in Cedar Way, Guildford, last August. |
Mr Tulley, who was in a relationship with their mother Marie, was "asleep or nearly asleep" at the time of the attack, which was so severe he was nearly beheaded. | Mr Tulley, who was in a relationship with their mother Marie, was "asleep or nearly asleep" at the time of the attack, which was so severe he was nearly beheaded. |
During the trial, prosecutor Philip Katz QC said the brothers had a complicated family background, with the adults described as "dysfunctional". | During the trial, prosecutor Philip Katz QC said the brothers had a complicated family background, with the adults described as "dysfunctional". |
'Almost decapitated' | 'Almost decapitated' |
A year earlier, Mr Tulley had threatened to kill Joshua and swung at him with an axe, the court heard. | |
Jurors heard Mr Tulley was arrested and charged with making threats to kill but was acquitted. | Jurors heard Mr Tulley was arrested and charged with making threats to kill but was acquitted. |
The court heard he returned to the crowded family home but relationships deteriorated further. | |
Mr Katz told jurors the brothers went on to act together and killed the man, who was in effect their stepfather. | |
"Each of them was armed with a kitchen knife, a very large substantial kitchen knife, and stabbed Neil Tulley to death in what the prosecution would say was a savage attack in which he was almost decapitated," he added. | "Each of them was armed with a kitchen knife, a very large substantial kitchen knife, and stabbed Neil Tulley to death in what the prosecution would say was a savage attack in which he was almost decapitated," he added. |
He said because Mr Tulley was "asleep or nearly asleep" there could not be any question of them acting in self-defence. | |
The court was told the brothers went on the run after the killing but were found by a member of the public. | |
Mother 'traumatised' | |
Joshua told the man Mr Tulley "had been abusive and they could not take it any longer", jurors heard. | |
The jury also heard that after his arrest, Joshua told police he had been scared about what Mr Tulley would do to the family. | |
A post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Tulley died from multiple stab wounds and found he had "65 separate sites of injury" across his body, the most severe at the neck. | |
Mr Katz read out a statement on behalf of Mr Tulley's family which said his mother had been left "traumatised" while his four siblings were "struggling to come to terms" with his murder. | |
Both brothers were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on 10 April. |