Guilty of Ben's murder
A MAN has started a life sentence after being found guilty of the murder of Wisbech man Ben Wilson. Neil Gowler, 26, of Golding Place, Wisbech, was found guilty on Friday after a three-week trial at Cambridge Crown Court. The jury could though not reach a
A MAN has started a life sentence after being found guilty of the murder of Wisbech man Ben Wilson.
Neil Gowler, 26, of Golding Place, Wisbech, was found guilty on Friday after a three-week trial at Cambridge Crown Court.
The jury could though not reach a verdict on manslaughter for the second man, Adrian Pettingale, 43, of Prospect Place in Wisbech, and another trial will take place.
Mr Wilson died at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on November 21, 2006, after suffering serious head injuries in an attack at Gowler's home on November 13 last year.
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The jury heard throughout the case that Gowler, Pettingale and Mr Wilson were drinking vodka and smoking cannabis, and playing a video game called Dead Rising, on the night of the attack.
It heard how a fight broke out when Mr Wilson had lost his cannabis during the evening, and that Mr Wilson was later hit with a leg from a dismantled table by Gowler.
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After the verdict, Det Supt Mark Birch, who led the inquiry into Mr Wilson's murder, said: "I welcome the jury's verdict in finding Neil Gowler guilty and the court's decision to sentence him to life imprisonment.
"Ben Wilson died after suffering a sickening, violent attack not far from his home from a man he thought was his friend.
"I hope today's verdict will afford Ben's family some sense of relief and enable them to begin to put this horrific ordeal behind them. My thoughts, and those of the investigation team, are with them.
