The brother of tragic Jimmy Prout said an emotional goodbye to his murdered sibling as he scattered his ashes seven years after his death.
Jimmy, who had learning difficulties, was subjected to a campaign of horrific violence at the hands of killers Zahid Zaman and Ann Corbett, before he was eventually killed, in 2016.
His murder, at the home they all shared, in Percy Main, near North Shields, remains one of the region's most shocking crimes of recent years, and left vulnerable Jimmy's loved ones asking why he wasn't protected from his evil killers.
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Earlier this year a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR), exploring the circumstances surrounding the 43-year-old's death was published. The report detailed a string of missed opportunities to identify Jimmy as a victim before he was killed.
Jimmy's brother Eddie has kept hold of his siblings ashes since his cremation as he awaited to right time to say his final goodbye. But now following the publication of the report Eddie finally believes his brother is at peace.
And on Tuesday he made an emotional trip to North Shields Fish Quay to scatter Jimmy's ashes in the Tyne.
Eddie, 59, said: "It was very emotional. I do feel like he's a at peace now, finally. I wanted some kind of closure. I didn't feel like I could lay him to rest until everything was out in the open."
Jimmy died after he was held captive Zaman’s house, on St Stephen’s Way, where he was subjected to a grotesque campaign of violence.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Zaman inflicted unbelievable cruelty on the dad-of-two, from Scotswood in Newcastle.
Zaman cut out one of Jimmy’s testicles and forced him to eat it, knocked his teeth out with a hammer and chisel and forced him to have to sex with a dog. Jimmy died on February 9, 2016, and his body was discovered more than a month later on wasteland near the Tyne Tunnel.
The court heard how disabled Zaman was the leader of a cult-like group of women, which included Kay Rayworth, Ann Corbett and Myra Wood. Zaman and Corbett attacked Jimmy, while Rayworth and Wood stood by and did nothing to help.
After a trial in 2017 serial liar Zaman, then 43, was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 33 years behind bars. Corbett, then 26, was also found guilty of murder and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years.
Rayworth, 56, and 50-year-old Wood, were cleared of the killing but convicted of for causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult and perverting the course of justice. Both were jailed for 12 years.
The DHR described how Jimmy attended hospital with injuries just three months before he died, but medics did not raise concerns he was being abused.
When he was seen by doctors, one or more of the perpetrators went in with him, and attempts were not made to speak to him alone.
Shockingly in November 2015, just three months before his death, police were contacted by a hospital after Jimmy attended with four stab wounds, including one to his scrotum, extensive bruising and a dislocated shoulder.
But no social service referral or assessment of his risk of domestic abuse was made by either Northumbria Police or the hospital
Then at a GP appointment later that month Zaman did most of the talking for Jimmy, and the doctor did not ask to see the patient alone.
North Tyneside Council, Northumbria Police, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and the Safer North Tyneside Partnership, all say lessons have been learned from Jimmy’s tragic death and that they have already begun implementing a series of recommendations made in the report.
And Eddie is hopeful that valuable lessons will be learned from his brother's death.
"I just hope that they learn from the mistakes that have been made.," he said. "If it can save one person's life I'll be happy."
Eddie, who lives in Newcastle's West End, chose the Fish Quay to scatter Jimmy's ashes as he has fond memories of visiting the spot with his brother on fishing trips.
"It's always been a special place for us," he said. "It was peaceful, it was somewhere we could clear our heads.
"Me and Jimmy would go there and do some fishing. I have got some happy memories there.
"I feel like I have been able to take him back to where he belongs. At last I have laid him to rest."
