Duncan Hearsey (pictured) repeatedly punched and stamped on Alan Creasey with such force he severed his victim’s ear and left him with catastrophic injuries
A handyman brutally beat a customer to death over a £40 bill and kicked him so viciously in the head his ear came off.
Duncan Hearsey repeatedly punched and stamped on Alan Creasey with such force he severed his ear and left him with catastrophic injuries.
Police said it was ‘tragically unfortunate’ they didn’t catch the handyman before he returned to beat him to death.
Mr Creasey dialled 999 after Hearsey turned up at his house in Lancing, West Sussex, demanding the money for a gardening job he claimed to have carried out.
Officers visited the 52-year-old after the call on May 29 and told him told him to lock his doors.
Within the hour, Hearsey had returned to repeatedly stamp on his Mr Creasey’s head, leaving him lying face down outside his patio doors.
He died the next morning in hospital.
CCTV showed Hearsey returning home after the attack, hanging a pair of blood-stained jeans on a tree and shadow boxing in the street.
CCTV showed Hearsey returning home after the attack, hanging a pair of blood-stained jeans on a tree
The night of the killing Hearsey had been thrown out of two pubs after threatening bar staff and customers, as well as smashing a kebab shop window
Hearsey was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison for murder at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, Sussex Police said.
The 44-year-old, from Shoreham, claimed he was acting in self defence, but was found guilty of murder by a majority verdict of 10-2.
On the day of the attack, police were called to disturbances at a kebab shop and two pubs where a man matching his description had been drunk and disorderly.
Alan Creasey was found with minor injuries by police officers at his home in Ingleside Crescent, Lancing, on May 29, following reports of a disturbance. When they returned an hour later he had a fresh fatal head wound
While en route, officers were diverted to a man who had a cardiac arrest at a railway station.
Meanwhile, Mr Creasey phoned the police to say he had been threatened by a man resembling Hearsey, so another team of officers was dispatched to his bungalow.
He said his arm had already been hurt in an altercation, and officers told him to lock his doors.
This second team then responded to the pub and kebab shop incidents and looked for Hearsey.
When they returned to check on Mr Creasey and take his statement an hour later, he was lying face down on the floor with a fresh fatal head wound.
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Till Sanderson, said: ‘We believe Hearsey carried out the attack between approximately 8.30pm and 9.10pm – this is between the time we left Mr Creasey’s address to continue enquiries in the town and search for Hearsey, and the time we returned to carry out a welfare check.
‘It is tragically unfortunate that we were unable to trace Hearsey before he killed his victim, however we cannot be certain that we would have caught him had we responded immediately to the earlier reports of disturbance in the town.’
He said the medical emergency officers were diverted to what was considered a high priority at the time.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission told the force to investigate the circumstances itself.