A teenager jailed for a “frenzied and brutal” hammer attack in Nantwich, was today named by a judge.
17-year-old Jack Halliwell has been jailed for 14 years after being found guilty by a jury of attempted murder of a 40-year-old man from Nantwich.
Halliwell was given an extended licence period of three years.
The judge The Hon Mr Justice Butcher today lifted the restriction on naming him.
On sentencing Halliwell, the judge told Chester Crown Court: “Within 3 minutes of his (the victim) entering, you had subjected him to a frenzied and brutal attack with the hammer which you had been keeping beside you on the bed.”
“You intended to kill him.
“Shockingly, however, what you did was to take a photograph of him in that state, before calmly taking your
possessions and leaving the scene.
“You subsequently sent that photograph to others, showing off what you had done.
“I have been left in no doubt that you are dangerous.”
Halliwell was found guilty on Thursday March 18 following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
His 40-year-old victim was repeatedly hit with the weapon up to 12 times in an attack which took place in the space of just two minutes inside a flat on Arnold Street on Sunday 26 July 2020.
Following the assault the severely injured victim was left alone in a bedroom.
He was only found four hours later after an anonymous call to the police.
Halliwell had been using the flat as a place to deal drugs and it is believed a dispute had taken place between him and the victim over a debt.
Immediately after the attack the teenager took a photo of the victim as he lay on the floor and then fled the property.
He ran to a nearby address, called for a taxi and waited to be collected.
Ten minutes after leaving the taxi he sent the photo he had taken of the victim to a contact on social media.
Shortly before 5pm two women attended the flat and saw the badly beaten victim in the bedroom lying on the bed.
He had a hammer underneath his feet and they tried to help him.
At 8.20pm police received an anonymous call to say a man had been attacked and was in a bedroom.
When they arrived they found the victim in the bedroom with severe injuries to his head and face – he could only be identified by a tattoo on his body.
An investigation including review CCTV footage, forensic analysis and conduct house-to-house enquiries led to Halliwell being identified and arrested in Gorton, Manchester, on 31 July.
He had tried to burn the clothes he was wearing on the day of the incident but a jacket seized from his address had traces of the victim’s blood on it.
A second man, aged 42, was found not guilty of attempted murder.
Detective Inspector Claire Jesson, of Crewe CID, said: “This was a truly horrific and distressing attack, which will stay with the victim, his family and the officers who attended the crime scene, for the rest of their lives.
“He was beaten so brutally that he was left unrecognisable and could only be identified by his tattoo – and then he was left alone in a room in severe pain with horrific injuries.
“I commend my detectives who have worked tirelessly to secure this outcome on what was a complex investigation.”
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