Carlos Boyce: Murder trial nears conclusion as evidence ends

Lee Hogg and Terry Dalton are charged with the brutal murder of Carlos Boyce who was found beaten to death in a friend’s flat after suffering multiple head and facial injuries.

Both defendants maintain that they were not responsible for causing the fatal injuries telling Teesside Crown Court how they both left Joseph Spencer’s Middlesbrough flat when he started brawling with 36-year-old Mr Boyce.

Prosecution case

Jurors were told that Mr Boyce and Mr Spencer had bought some cocaine which was delivered to the latter’s flat on Homerton Road, Ormesby, in the early hours of November 11 last year.

Nick Dry, prosecuting, said the two defendants stayed at the flat to take drugs and drink vodka before a disagreement about smoking crack cocaine descended into brutal violence.

He said Mr Spencer was spotted wandering the streets at around 5pm on the afternoon before a motorist stopped and tried to help him.

Carlos Boyce (Image: Cleveland Police)

In a video recorded police interview, the-then 36-year-old described the alleged murderers as ‘bullies’ who carried out a brutal attack on Mr Boyce inside his flat.

He said: “They were steaming into him; they were both giving him a good hiding using their fists and stamping on his head.

“I pulled them off and they smacked me with a full bottle of vodka and put me to the ground.

“I heard Lee Hogg tell the other lad to hold me down, he sat on my chest and then Lee Hogg started hitting me in the face with the bottle and also stamping on my head.”

Emergency services were called and police found the body of Mr Boyce, the 36-year-old had suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pathologist Dr Louise Mulcahy outlined the catalogue of injuries she discovered on Mr Boyce’s body, including evidence of a shoe print on his head.

Dr Mulcahy said Mr Boyce ‘likely fell unconscious’ and so could not cough, to clear blood from his airways. He may have survived for one or two hours after the attack, the court heard.

Following the fatal attack, the pair went on the run for two days before being arrested after causing trouble at a hotel near Darlington while they were attempting to lie low.

They were eventually arrested when they were kicked out of a pub in Dalton on Tees for being too rowdy after spending hours drinking in The Comet pub in Hurworth.

Lee Hogg’s defence

He categorically denied taking part in the violence and said Mr Boyce had become embroiled in a fight with his friend Joseph Spencer.

He told jurors that the pair armed themselves with a variety of weapons, including a knife, a stick and a vodka bottle.

The 38-year-old told Teesside Crown Court how he and his co-accused, Terry Dalton, left the flat while the other two men continued fighting.

Peter Moulson KC, representing Hogg, asked his client what happened following the argument about smoking crack cocaine.

Giving evidence, Hogg said: “I jumped up with Terry to see what the bang was. Joe Spencer had a bottle in his hand and Carlos Boyce had something, like a stick. They were both just at it on the floor.

“Mr Boyce had a hoover pipe and he was trying to strike Joe with it. Mr Spencer had a vodka bottle in his hand, he was trying to strike Boyce with it.”

Homerton Road, Ormesby

Mr Moulson asked the defendant if he had used any of the weapons on Mr Boyce, he replied: “Absolutely not.”

He asked Hogg: "Were you responsible for the murder of Carlos Boyce? He replied: “Definitely not.”

Terry Dalton’s defence

He denied delivering a number of kicks, punches and stamps to his alleged victim.

However, Dalton had admitted occasionally selling drugs to fund his own cocaine and crack cocaine addiction but had never met Carlos Boyce before November 11 last year.

When asked by his defence barrister Sam Green KC, what happened next?

He replied that Mr Spencer and Mr Boyce started fighting before Hogg and himself tried to split them up.

Dalton said the pair started fighting for a second time and this time they were armed. He added: “I saw a vodka bottle but it might have been a knife I’m not sure. I wanted to get out of there.”

He tells the jury that they left the flat after the second fight.

The Comet, in Hurworth (Image: Google)

Under cross examination from prosecution barrister, Nick Dry, Dalton denied being responsible for any of the injuries suffered by Mr Carlos and was not even in the flat at the time they were inflicted.

What happens next?

Judge Howard Crowson will direct the jury on aspects of law and sum up the evidence while the prosecution and two defence barristers will give their closing speeches.

The jury will then retire to consider its verdict.

Hogg, 38, of Lindisfarne Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, and 53-year-old Dalton, of Ellerbeck Way, Ormesby, both deny murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.