A Spalding man who tried to cover up a murder has been given a life sentence
Samuel Church set fire to his victim's home
A man from Spalding who tried to cover up a murder by setting fire to his victim's home has been given a life sentence.
37-year-old Samuel Church of Acacia Avenue previously admitted the murder of Vincent Markham and then asked to 'vacate his plea' which was refused by a judge.
He'll serve a minimum term of 20 years before he's eligible for parole.
Church appeared at Warwick Crown Court in October where an application to vacate his guilty plea was refused by a judge.
Today, Friday, 19th January, Church appeared at Lincoln Crown where he was sentenced to 20 years for murder and will serve a concurrent 45 months for perverting public justice.
The court heard that emergency services had received several reports of a fire at the Farrow Road property on 7th August.
This was at the same time that Mr Markham was found in the front garden of the Farrow Road property.
Mr Markham sadly died at the scene, and it was first thought he had died because of the fire.
It later became apparent that he had sustained facial and head injuries with a post-mortem examination concluding that Mr Markham had died following an assault.
Church was located in the Broadgate junction area with burn injuries.
He told a member of the public, who came to his aid, that he had tried to get someone out of the fire.
He was taken to hospital to be treated, but following his release was arrested and charged with murder and perverting the course of justice.
Detective Inspector Adrian Czajkowski, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said:
“The attack that Vincent Markham suffered was brutal and Church tried to cover his tracks by setting fire to his home to make it look like an accident.
“These two men were known to one another and although the motive was not clear, we believe that an ongoing feud may have led to the attack.
“This was a very tragic incident and our thoughts are with Mr Markham’s family. We hope today’s result brings some closure to the family.”