Northamptonshire man dumped murder victim in box to die following ‘savage attack', court told

A Northamptonshire man is facing a life sentence for murder following a "savage" attack and leaving his victim dumped in a box to die. Blaine Hammond's body was found inside a green utility box formerly used to house telecommunications equipment in Sunderland in December 2021.

Louis Whelan, 23, of Watling Street, Towcester, and Anthony Keating, also 23, both denied murder but were both found guilty of murder at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday (November 14). The court heard Hammond, 22, was attacked inside Whelan's former home on Wearside then dragged along the street while he was still alive and left to die in the cold.

He was later found with devastating injuries having suffered around 13 blows to his head. Mr Justice Morris will sentence the pair next month but warned: “The sentence for murder is fixed by law and it is a life sentence.”

During the trial, Whelan told jurors he threw one punch and claimed he put the victim in a box during his efforts to "help" him, our sister paper Sunderland Echo reports.

Giving evidence from the witness box Whelan said that Keating, of Palmerston Road, Sunderland, and Hammond had been at his home on December 2. Whelan said he had never met Hammond previously but told jurors: “In my mind the mate of a mate is a mate before you even know them.”

He told jurors they all were “getting on alright” but at some point he went to the bathroom then came back out to “a bit of hell on”. Whelan told the court he heard Keating say “he’s taking your money” adding: “I said ‘both of you get the **** out, you bunch of thieves’, I said that a few times. It all happened in a split second.”

Whelan said at some point Hammond appeared to “gesture to push me or hit me or whatever so I hit him”. He added: “He started crawling to the front door. At that point Anth booted him in the head, full on. Two minutes later he was crawling out of the front door. I thought he had fallen down the steps, I still do to this day.”

Whelan said Mr Hammond ended up at the bottom of the outdoor stairs with blood coming from his nose. He told jurors: “I admit what I done, aye I hit him. I thought he was going to be alright.”

Whelan admitted he put Hammond inside the green box, adding: “I thought it would be better to put him in there than leave him in the middle of the street. It was freezing.”

Prosecutors claimed Hammond was subjected to a “savage” assault by Whelan and Keating before he was dragged to the box. Pathologist Marc Egan said a lack of defensive injuries could suggest he was “taken unaware”.

Hammond’s mum, Leigh Gray, searched desperately for her son the following morning after finding he had not come home. In a statement read to the court she described her son as being well liked, with lots of friends and “he would lift your spirits and never hurt a fly”.