An 'evil' killer who brutally murdered his housemate after bludgeoning him 18 times with an axe has been jailed for life. Kieran Oldham, 37, was ordered to serve at least 22 years after launching a ferocious attack on 21-year-old Liam Richardson.
Liam, from Middleton, had fallen on 'difficult times' and had been living with Oldham at his home on Industry Road in Rochdale. But a judge said it was clear that Oldham 'used' and 'bullied' Liam, who was described as being 'somewhat vulnerable'.
Chilling voice recordings captured minutes before the killing told how Liam begged Oldham to let him leave the house. Oldham then armed himself with an axe and launched a horrendous attack on Liam, who suffered terrible head injuries and died in the early hours of October 3 last year.
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Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Liam was alive for some of the attack, suffering defensive injuries as he desperately tried to protect himself. "He must have been aware of the hopelessness of his situation as he tried to fend off blows from the axe," Judge Maurice Greene said.
The judge told Oldham: "His family must now live with the consequences of what you have done." The court heard a moving statement from Liam's mother, Susan Hartley, who told how she received the 'worst news that any parent could ever imagine'.
"I couldn’t believe what I was hearing," Ms Hartley said in a statement read on her behalf in court, recalling when she learned of her son's death. "I felt like the world had come crashing down on me and my family and to this day, that feeling has not gone away. I do not understand how one person can do such a thing to another."
Ms Hartley said a particularly difficult day during the trial was listening to a pathologist detail her son's terrible injuries. "After this I could not bear to be in the court room. I could not bear to listen to how my son was brutally murdered anymore. How can someone put an axe to someone’s head that many times?
"I do not understand. It is nothing but evil. Kieran Oldham continued to axe my son until he died. This is the behaviour of a monster. Myself and my family will continue to love Liam like he is still here with us, but while grieving because he is not.
"We will never get over losing him and I hope we can do him proud while he watches down on us." Ms Hartley told how she went to see her son's body at the mortuary.
She said: "This is an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. Seeing my son lay there on the bed made me feel sick and my legs to turned to jelly. His face was so badly injured that he was almost unrecognisable."
She added: "Still to this day, when I close my eyes, I see Liam laying there on the mortuary bed. This is an image that will never leave my mind.
"It was like something out of a horror movie, it was truly horrific." The judge said that Oldham had cocaine and steroids in his system, and that he may have been experiencing drug-induced psychosis at the time of the killing. He had referred to a 'hex' and 'shape shifters' in notes he had written that day. Oldham lied to police in interview, claiming a 'gang' was responsible for Liam's death.
Defending, James Mullholland KC said: "All we can say on behalf of the defendant is that there is perhaps some degree of remorse, simply by the fact that he accepted responsibility for the killing, albeit not to the full extent."
Oldham, of Industry Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of murder after a trial. He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He also admitted charges of false imprisonment, after he went to a friend's home after the killing and refused to let them leave, and a charge of affray when he was detained by a member of the public after Oldham had smashed his car's windows with an iron bar.
After the hearing, Detective Inspector Rachel Smith, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: "This was a horrific and sustained attack that took place in Kieran Oldham’s House. Liam had been staying with Oldham at the address and were believed to be friends, with evidence suggesting he was bullied.
"Oldham though violently killed Liam and then left him in his address before going on to commit further offences in the vicinity over the next few hours before he was arrested. The investigation team worked diligently to uncover a wealth of evidence as to Kieran Oldham’s guilt.
"When interviewed by GMP, Oldham provided an account which was proven to be wholly untrue. His lies were disproven by the Major Incident Team, as was the account that he was not guilty due to diminished responsibility. The prosecution has proven that Oldham intended to kill Liam.
"I hope today’s sentence brings some comfort to Liam’s family and friends, who have attended court every day of this trial and have had to listen to the details of this despicable crime. As officers we always want to bring justice to the families of victims and we are pleased in some way we have been able to do that and give them some form of comfort to their continued agony and understandable pain. Our thoughts as a force remain with his loved ones after today’s sentencing."
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