Man convicted of hammer attack on gay flatmate

A CATHOLIC man who battered his openly gay flatmate on the head with a claw hammer has been found guilty of attempted murder.

X-ray of Connor Huntley after hammer attack. Picture: PA

Joseph Williams, 21, inflicted “life-changing” head injuries on cross dressing Connor Huntley while he slept in their shared flat in Margate, Kent, in May last year.

Williams was today found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison, which he will serve in a high security hospital until he is deemed fit to leave.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Judge Jeremy Donne QC told Williams: “On May 28, 2013 you picked up a hammer, went into the bedroom of your sleeping flat mate and brought it down two times on his head.

“Not only did it fracture his skull but it was embedded in his brain.

“The injuries suffered by Connor Huntley were little short of catastrophic. They were life-changing.

“It is fortunate in the extreme for both him as for you that he did not die.

“That was only down to the skill of the medical personnel treating him but he will never be able to live an ordinary life.

“He will be never be able to enjoy all the things that young people enjoy doing.

“You have taken away a good part of his life.”