A thug who live-streamed a horrific two-hour attack on a man who later died has been found guilty of murder. Declan O'Donnell carried out the prolonged attack on social media, turning to face his victim, Paul Cox, as viewers pleaded with him to stop.
One had pleaded, "stop, you are killing him". O'Donnell left four times and returned to continue to give his victim a beating.
Police learned of the horrific incident after a member of O'Donnell's family saw the shocking stream on social media and she called officers and alerted ambulance and police in two 999 calls.
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Police officers raced to the address, in Mansfield Road, Nottingham. O'Donnell answered the door - but redirected police to another address, laughing on video at that point as he still recorded, but had stopped live streaming at that point. Detectives returned but O'Donnell threatened police with a knife.
Officers were not able to get in the address, due to the presence of the knife, which delayed them getting to Mr Cox. A taser was produced. O'Donnell dropped the knife and officers detained him.
Police searched the premises, and located Mr Cox in a horrific condition, with blood everywhere, and unable to speak. He never regained consciousness, so was unable to give an account of what happened.
But officers used the social stream and the extent of his injuries to piece together the evidence. They charged O'Donnell with GBH with intent, which was elevated to murder, after Mr Cox sadly passed away in Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham.
The attack on him happened at his aunt, Lorraine Fallon's home, when he was in drink. He subjected her partner, Mr Cox, to the sadistic and brutal attack on February 10, 2022. O'Donnell suffered 45 separate injuries, including a crushed oesophagus, and blunt force injuries to his spine and head.
The cause of death was severe trauma, with head, chest and spine and injuries consistent with being kicked and stamped to a severe level, according to pathologist Dr Frances Hollingbury, who gave evidence in the trial of O'Donnell, which started on May 2 at Nottingham Crown Court.
The jury, who returned their guilty verdict to murder on Monday (May 15), heard O'Donnell had pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and due to an abnormality of the mind. But this was not accepted by the prosecution who pursued an allegation of murder, which he denied.
O'Donnell will be sentenced this Friday (May 19).
Police said O’Donnell, 24, previously of Mansfield Road, Nottingham, blamed Mr Cox for the death of his own mum, who was a functioning alcoholic.
Mr Cox, 63, of Nottinghamshire, who the jury heard was a functioning alcoholic, died on February 18, after attempts were made at hospital to save his life, including the surgical removal of half of his oesophagus
He was on ICU for 8 days. The family had to make the awful decision to switch off his life support. His brother, Peter Cox, attended the trial every day with his devastated family.
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