Chilcott killers sentenced to three years - but could be free in 18 months

TWO young West Somerset men who killed Minehead gardener Tim Chilcott in an unprovoked street attack were today each sentenced to three years in custody.
But Daniel Cain (pictured, right), who was 16 at the time of the killing and is now aged 17 of Porlock, and Sean Wylds (pictured, below), aged 20, of Alcombe, Minehead, are likely to be free again within 18 months.
The pair were drunk when they set upon 36-year-old Mr Chilcott as he walked home through Minehead town centre in the early hours of January 20 this year.
Mr Chilcott was punched to the ground in Blenheim Road and hit his head on the road, suffering a 10-inch fracture of his skull and internal bleeding.
He died 36 hours later in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, without regaining consciousness.
Cain and Sean Wylds denied Mr Chilcott’s manslaughter but were found guilty by a jury after a trial in Exeter Crown Court in July.
Judge Graham Cottle - who previously pledged ‘zero tolerance’ for drunken yobs - said in sentencing the pair today: “This was yet another act of senseless unprovoked violence carried out by young men affected by drink.
“A man walking home alone, minding his own business, posing no conceivable threat to anybody is punched to the ground and dies of his injuries.”
Because of his young age, Cain was sentenced to be detained in a young offenders’ institution, while Wylds was sent to prison.
However, Wylds will have dedeucted from his sentence the 121 days already served on remand in jail, while Cain, who had been free on bail for much of the time, will have 31 days served in custody deducted from his sentence.
Both will be liable for early release, and could therefore spend less than 18 months in custody.
Cain’s identity had been protected throughout the trial due to Section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act, which prevents the press identifying criminals, aged under 18 years.
However, following an application by local newspaper the Somerset County Gazette, Judge Cottle lifted the anonymity.
Cain had no previous convictions, while Wylds had a reprimand and penalty notice for battery in March, 2005, and for public disorder just two months before the deadly attack on Mr Chilcott.
During the trial, the court heard how Cain had drunk 12 pints of strong Stella Artois lager during a drinking binge with Wylds and six friends on the night in question.
He picked up some Argos catalogues from a shop doorway and thought ‘it would be fun’ to throw them at the first person who walked past, which happened to be Mr Chilcott.
Then, Wylds confronted Mr Chilcott and goaded Cain into attacking him.
Cain punched Mr Chilcott resulting in his death.
Judge Cottle said the jury had ‘no difficulty in rejecting the fanciful proposition advanced by each of you that you were acting in self-defence’ in a fight with Mr Chilcott.
He said he had no doubt that social problems highlighted by the case needed to be addressed at different levels.
Judge Cottle said: “All the courts can do is to demonstrate in the sentence passed that the public have had enough of being frightened away from town and city centres by the prospect of witnessing an incident of this sort.”
Mr Chilcott’s mother, Sylvia, said in a victim impact statement: “This was an act of senseless, violent stupidity.
“We hope all those involved will always remember that they destroyed the life of a wonderful young man and have shattered the lives of all who knew him.
“We hope the people involved in taking Tim’s life realise the devastating effect that their actions have had on so many other people’s lives.”
She hoped the case would ‘deter people from taking the same path of those involved in Tim’s death on the night they took him away from us’.
Det Supt Russ Nurcombe, who was involved with the investigation, said: “This tragic and unnecessary act was fuelled by drink and violent behaviour.
“We are satisfied with the verdict today and are pleased with the judge’s comments.”

Minehead 'a safe place to live'

FIVE weeks to the day after Minehead gardener Tim Chilcott was killed by a savage town centre street assault which shocked the community, security guard Mike McDermaid was attacked in the town’s busiest supermarket and suffered a fractured skull and eye socket.
A young teenager came up behind Mr McDermaid and struck him over the head with a full bottle of spirits which had been stolen from the store, knocking him to the ground.
The police officer leading the earlier inquiry into Mr Chilcott’s killing, Det Chief Insp Martyn Triggol, announced publicly afterwards that such attacks were rare and Minehead generally ‘remains a very safe place’.
Now, however, Mr McDermaid, who previously served 24 years as a Special Constable in Minehead, is lucky to be alive after a late-night assault which happened as he carried out his duties in Tesco, off Seaward Way.
Mr McDermaid, who lives in Watchet, was attempting to help a colleague restrain a second teenager in the foyer of the supermarket when the assault happened.
Both youths were said to be attending 24/7 @ Periton Mead specialist school, just outside Minehead, and one was known to most traders in the town who belong to the anti-crime Shopwatch scheme.
They had already been officially barred from entering the Tesco store because of previous incidents.
Mr McDermaid told The Post: “Knowing that they were barred, they were actually entering as ‘burglars’.
“I immediately alerted the police and the store management and locked the doors.
“It all then kicked off in the foyer. They shoulder-charged the doors to try to get the doors open, then they were kicking the windows trying to get out. They had a girl accomplice outside who was kicking the windows trying to get in.
“I was going towards the one that my mate was holding onto when the other one came up behind me and cracked me over the head.
“It put me in hospital for two days and fractured my skull from the forehead just above the hairline down to the right eyebrow, which gave me a black eye.
“I do not know why he did it. I was no threat to him because I was going away from him.”
Mr McDermaid has been off work since the assault, which happened at about 10.15 pm on February 25, and he is not likely to be able to return for another three weeks.
Despite nearly a quarter-of-a-century working on police duties in the town, it was the first physical assault he had suffered.
He said: “I deal with anything that comes through the doors from day to day, but not anything like this before.
“It is a regular occurrence to be threatened, and I was once told by somebody they were going to come back and I was going to be stabbed, but I have not had anything like this before.
“As a Special Constable I have been involved in fights, of course, restraining people, especially outside the nightclubs, but this is the first time it has turned to violence towards me.”
Mr McDermaid said the incident had not put him off his security duties and he was keen to return to work.
Police confirmed that two juveniles had been arrested, one on suspicion of theft and assault, and the second on suspicion of criminal damage.
Both were charged to appear before a youth court the following day. The law prevents newspapers from identifying the teenagers because of their young age.

• Our photographs show Mr McDermaid's injuries two days after the attack. Photos submitted.

Exmoor village's Pubwatch scheme aims to tackle troublemakers

LICENSEES in Porlock are working closely with local police to help make the village a safer place.
Seven public houses in and around the village have signed up to a Pubwatch scheme which will help police to deal with those involved in anti-social behaviour and drink-related crime.
Anybody involved in violence, criminal damage, or causing alarm and harassment to other pub-goers, will face a six-month ban from all of the venues.
And any assaults on licensees or staff will see them banned for life from all the premises.
The move comes nearly a month after an outbreak of violence and assaults in the otherwise sleepy village which have all been linked by residents to one particular ‘problem’ family.
Police are continuing with an investigation into the New Year troubles, which included an early evening incident where a gang of hammer-wielding youths smashed every High Street window of the Ship Inn while customers were eating and drinking inside.
Sgt Andy Whysall, who heads the Dulverton area’s ‘Safer, Stronger Neighbourhood Team’, said: “Porlock is a picturesque village on Exmoor, where the local residents enjoy a peaceful way of life - we want to keep it that way.
“If somebody is ejected from one pub for being a nuisance, they will be banned from there for the night, the other premises will be informed, and that person may find themselves banned from all the venues in the village for the rest of the evening.
“Persistent troublemakers face being banned from every local pub for at least six months, something we hope will make people reform their behaviour.
“This is another example of the local community working together in partnership with the police to build a safer, stronger neighbourhood.”
The scheme includes the Royal Oak, the Lorna Doone Hotel, Castle Hotel, Ship Inn, Anchor Hotel, and the Ship Inn, at Porlock Weir, and the Culbone Inn, at Oare.
Pubwatch and the ‘banned from one, banned from all’ scheme has already been introduced successfully in many towns and large villages across the Avon and Somerset Police area.

• Our photograph shows the Lorna Doone Hotel, in Porlock, which is one of the premises taking part in the Pubwatch scheme. Photo submitted.

Magistrates order Minehead manslaughter charge teenagers to be kept in custody

TWO young men have been kept in custody after appearing in court on charges of the manslaughter of 36-year-old Tim Chilcott, of Minehead.
Nineteen-year-old Shaun Wylds, of Lower Meadow Road, Alcombe, Minehead, and a 16-year-old, of Porlock, whom the law prevents from being identified, appeared before Taunton Deane magistrates sitting in Taunton this afternoon, Tuesday, January 22.
They were accused of killing Mr Chilcott, who suffered serious head injuries in an early-hours attack in Minehead town centre on Sunday and who died in hospital 36 hours later after being on a life-support machine.
Applications by their solicitors for the pair to be freed on bail were refused by the magistrates and they were instead remanded in custody.
Wylds and his co-defendant will now appear in Exeter Crown Court next Tuesday, January 29.
A third man arrested in connection with the killing of Mr Chilcott was released on police bail pending further inquiries before today's court hearing. He is 18-years-old.

Family speak of sorrow and shock at son's killing

THE family of Minehead man Tim Chilcott have expressed their shock and disbelief at his killing in a street fight in the town at the weekend.

Mr Chilcott (pictured), a single man aged 36, suffered severe head injuries when he was attacked in the town centre in the early hours of Sunday, January 20.

He died 36 hours later in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, where he had been on a life support machine.

Three teenagers were arrested by police on suspicion of his murder, but one, aged 18, was given bail pending further inquiries, while the other two, aged 19 and 16 years, were charged instead with his manslaughter.

Mr Chilcott's elderly parents, Fred and Sylvia Chilcott, have now spoken to The Post about their feelings after being told what had happened.

They said the whole family - Tim also had a brother, Kevin, and a sister, Heather - were 'very upset' and could not believe it.

Mrs Chilcott said they were 'just sad and shocked' by the tragedy and unable to fully express their emotions publicly.

She posed the question: "Why?"

Mrs Chilcott said: "Why did this have to happen."

She said the family were at a loss to understand how their Tim could have been killed in such a brutal manner.

One friend who had known Tim Chilcott, a self-employed gardener, for more than 20 years described him as 'a bit of a loner' and not somebody to be involved in any trouble.

The friend said: "He did his work and went and had a pint, that was Tim Chilcott. He was not part of any trouble-making group or anything like that.

"He was just out and had been for a few drinks and was walking home when this happens.

"It is unbelievable that something like this can happen to a nice guy like Tim on our streets."

Police have appealed for witnesses who may have been in and around the Blenheim Road or town centre area shortly after midnight on Sunday.

They especially want to talk to anybody who may have left the Wellington Hotel near the time of the incident or may have spoken to the occupants of a dark coloured, three-door car around Wellington Square shortly afterwards.

Anybody who can help is asked to contact Taunton CID on 0845-4567000 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555111.

Det Chief Insp Martyn Triggol, who is leading the inquiry has reassured residents that the Mr Chilcott's killing was an isolated incident and that Minehead generally was a safe place in which to live.

Witness appeal after A39 'road rage' assault on driver

POLICE have issued an appeal for witnesses after a car driver was assaulted in an apparent case of ‘road rage’ on the A39.
The incident happened shortly after mid-day on Sunday, November 18, when the victim was in his car following another vehicle along the A39 toward Nether Stowey.
A Toyota Land Cruiser then pulled out of a side road, causing the vehicle in front of the victim's car to brake sharply.
The victim also had to brake.
The Toyota later stopped in Castle Street, in Nether Stowey, and the car in front of the victim drove on, while the victim pulled up and an altercation followed between the two drivers.
The argument resulted in the victim being punched several times and he was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, where he received treatment for a facial injury.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and is being questioned by police.
Police believe there may have been a number of people in the Castle Street area at the time, as it is a busy residential street.
People may have witnessed the incident and could have useful information to help the police inquiry.
Anybody with information is asked to contact Bridgwater CID on 0845 456700, or they can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, where they do not have to give their name and they could receive a reward.
The secure Crimestoppers contact form can also be used at https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/crimestoppers/ContactForm.aspx.