A man jailed for taking part in the horrific killing of a homeless man has died while serving his sentence at Rochdale’s Buckley Hall prison.
Terence Townsend, 68, was jailed in 2007 after a court heard how he and three other men launched a frenzied assault on 45-year-old John Dunn. The attack, which took place in a bedsit in 2006, was sparked after Mr Dunn returned without alcohol having been refused service at a Tesco store.
The group had given him £12, but when he came back empty-handed, they turned violent. Prosecutors described how Mr Dunn was beaten, stabbed and slashed with broken glass. A post-mortem later revealed he had suffered more than 100 separate injuries.
At Bristol Crown Court, Judge Mr Justice Butterfield condemned the violence as a “brutal and sustained attack on a small defenceless man”. Townsend, then 51 and originally from Cardiff, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 14 years. His co-defendants, Andrew Fuge, Richard Evans and Wayne Jones, received similar punishments.
When police officers entered the property, they found Townsend, Jones and Evans sat close to Mr Dunn’s body. All were bloodstained. A witness, who said he feared for his life if he intervened, recalled Mr Dunn crying out in pain and begging for the assault to end.
Townsend died at Buckley Hall prison in February this year from a tear in the heart, according to a report by the prisons and probation ombudsman. His death has been recorded as natural causes.
The ombudsman’s investigation found that clinical care at the jail was of a “reasonable standard”. A medical reviewer concluded Townsend had received appropriate treatment in the lead-up to his death, and no failings were identified in the prison’s handling of his case.
HMP Buckley Hall is a Category C prison on the outskirts of Rochdale that houses around 450 male inmates. It has previously been scrutinised by inspectors for healthcare provision and safety, but in this case officials were satisfied the prison had acted properly.
The killing of John Dunn shocked the seaside community of Weston-super-Mare and became a chilling example of alcohol-fuelled violence. Mr Dunn, who had been living on the margins of society, was remembered by friends as vulnerable but harmless.
Speaking after sentencing in 2007, prosecutors said the confined setting of the bedsit meant the assault was so prolonged that the attackers may have had to “take turns” inflicting injuries.
Townsend had spent the past 18 years behind bars before his death in Rochdale. His passing means only his co-defendants remain in custody for one of the most notorious killings in Weston-super-Mare’s recent history.
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