Suffolk man sentenced to life for murdering a man in an Ipswich guest house
The incident took place last summer
A Suffolk man has been sentenced to life, with a minimum of 15 years in prison for murdering a man in an Ipswich guest house.
41 year old Warren Atkinson had denied murdering 37-year-old Steven Povey back in July last year, at the house on Norwich Road where they both resided, but a jury found him unanimously guilty.
He'll now serve at least 15 years in prison.
Atkinson had denied murdering 37-year-old Steven Povey on Friday 9 July 2021, at the guest house on Norwich Road where they both resided.
Police had been called to the address by the ambulance service on the day in question at just before 4.55pm, reporting that a man had sustained serious injuries inside the property.
Steven Povey had been found unconscious in a kitchenette on the top floor of the building, with significant visible facial injuries. He was lying on his back on the floor with a substantially sized wooden coffee table on top of him.
Mr Povey was treated at the scene by paramedics, but despite their best efforts he was declared deceased at 5.35pm.
A post-mortem examination found that Mr Povey had multiple areas of blunt force trauma to the head and neck and sustained 62 separate sites of injury to the head and body in total.
Warren Atkinson had been witnessed coming out of the kitchenette with blood on him and he made a comment about ‘Steven’ which the witness did not hear clearly. She then went into the kitchenette and found Mr Povey on the floor and immediately called an ambulance, which arrived a short time later along with the police.
Officers were directed to where Atkinson was within the premises and finding him bloodstained, they arrested him on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm and he was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre, where he was then further arrested on suspicion of murder. He was subsequently charged and made a first appearance at court on Monday 12 July 2021.
Atkinson initially denied attacking Mr Povey, claiming that he had fallen over a number of times as he was intoxicated and that he had tried to help him up. Atkinson’s clothing was seized when he was arrested and his hooded top, t-shirt, shorts and trainers were all found to have Mr Povey’s blood on them.
The court heard that the injuries sustained by Mr Povey were more consistent with blunt force assault and were not typically seen as a result of stumbles or falls. The absence of collapse-related injuries therefore did not support the initial account given by the defendant.
Atkinson did later admit that he assaulted Mr Povey but claimed that he was acting in self-defence.
The jury rejected this version of events and Warren Atkinson was found guilty by a unanimous verdict on Wednesday 16 November, following a nine-week trial.