Two men who licked blood from their victim's face have been caged for an “unmerciful and savage murder.” Samuel Atcheson and Steven Arthur Hunter, both from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, brutally killed Donald Harold Fraser-Rennie, 33, on October 29, 2020.
Dad-of-three Donald's lifeless body was discovered at Atcheson’s flat by police. It was the prosecution case that he died as a result of a “unmerciful, prolonged and sustained attack", reports Belfast Live.
Atcheson, 36, will serve a minimum of 16 years before he is eligible for parole, while Hunter, 32, will spend at least 15 years behind bars. The senseless murder was filmed by the attackers, with Hunter's 58-second video being shown in Belfast Crown Court last month.
Senior prosecutor, Ciaran Murphy KC, said the victim, originally from England, died as a result of a “beating and had been subjected to gratuitous violence”. Murphy explained following the murder, Atcheson sent a Facebook message to a relative saying: “There is a dead man in my flat.”
Atcheson dialled 999 the morning after the attack and told a call handler: “We need your assistance at 5D Crebilly Road as soon as possible. A male has been beat up. Believed to be dead. It is quite a gory scene. We have literally just arrived on the scene. At the moment all we have is Donald.”
Police found the deceased was “lying on his back with no pulse, was cold and his face was indented”. On the call, Atcheson continued: “It was Steven Hunter. He is away to his girlfriend’s flat. Hunter put a screwdriver into Donald’s face.”
Mr Murphy said: “Photographs from the scene show the deceased lying with a pool of blood around his head and extensive blood distribution and staining in the living room, bedroom and bathroom." An autopsy recorded death was due to “blunt force trauma of the head and chest, with compressions to the neck and acute alcohol intoxication."
It added: "There were multiple blows to the head consistent with him being the victim of a sustained physical assault with punches, kicks, stamps and blows with a weapon. He had nine fractured ribs and there was bleeding on the brain”.
Madam Justice McBride said the defendants had subjected Mr Fraser-Rennie to a “savage, vicious and merciless prolonged beating involving multiple punches, kicks and blows. The callous and vicious nature of the attack is graphically portrayed in the disgusting 58 second video made by Hunter”.
On the day of the murder, Atcheson contacted his girlfriend by video call and turned the phone towards the deceased who was “lying on the floor lifeless with blood coming from his mouth”.
She stated that “Hunter and Atcheson were laughing and she saw Hunter score a screwdriver down the right side of the deceased’s face. Both then licked blood off the side of the deceased’s face. Atcheson then kicked the deceased in the head and face at least ten times. There was blood everywhere in the flat”.
When Hunter was eventually put in handcuffs officers noted “blood staining around his fingernails”. When speaking to officers he admitted that he punched the deceased twice in the face, kicked him once while on the ground, “straddled him, grabbed his cheeks with both hands and squeezed his fingers into them”.
He went onto claim that when he left the flat his victim was still alive and Atcheson “was fighting with him”. Madam Justice McBride said: “This was clearly a lie as the CCTV footage shows Atcheson and Hunter at the local petrol station at 4.11pm that afternoon.”
Atcheson in turn blamed Hunter for all the injuries the victim sustained. The judge said it was clear that “there was evidence to clean up the scene and dispose of evidence. Fire embers showed they tried to destroy evidence”.
Madam Justice McBride said she had read a victim statement from Mr Fraser-Rennie’s partner Mary Cotton about the “devastating impact his death has had on her and her children”.
“She has lost a partner and now has to struggle as a single parent," she said. "Their two children have lost a much loved father and have to face the future without his presence, support and guidance. No term of imprisonment can equate to or restore human life nor can it alleviate the profound grief, pain and loss to the deceased’s family which they now have to live with on a daily basis.”
Ms Cotton attended court and was visibly upset after the sentences were passed. She left the court carrying a pillow with Mr Fraser-Rennie’s face on it and was heard to say: “That’s not nearly long enough for what they did to him.”
Detective Inspector Claire McGarvey said: “Thanks to our dedicated team and working in partnership with our colleagues in the Public Prosecution Service, the defendants have been held accountable for their actions.
“Donald’s family have lost their loved one. The life of a loving fiancé and father was taken in the most brutal and shocking of attacks, and there are no words that can ease their pain. Today my thoughts remain with them.”
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