A convicted rapist was murdered by his sister's partner who attacked him with a plank of wood which left him with internal bleeding and caused his death. As the victim lay mortally injured outside his flat the killer kept in contact with neighbours for information about his condition.
Andrew Southwood, 39, killed Carl Ball, 51, in an attack outside his home in Newport on August 19, 2022. The victim had been subjected to various assaults in the run-up to his death. Ball was convicted in 2001 of raping a woman and sexually abusing a child for which he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
A trial at Newport Crown Court heard Mr Ball's flat in Heron Way, Duffryn, had been targeted with windows smashed and, on one occasion, was set alight. On the day of his death Mr Ball had received a suspended prison sentence for possession of a blade and had appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court. He was later assaulted by a man called Otis Jeffries in an attack which was filmed but played no part in Mr Ball’s death.
