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.”

EXCLUSIVE: Third teenager is charged after Tim Chilcott killing

A THIRD teenager has been charged with involvement in the killing of Minehead gardener Tim Chilcott.
The 18-year-old had been arrested at the time but was allowed bail while police continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr Chilcott's death.
He was charged today (Friday, February 22) with the offence of affray and was named as David Hayes, who lives in Winsford.
Hayes is due to appear before magistrates sitting in Minehead on Friday, March 7.
Two other teenagers arrested with Hayes were subsequently charged with the more serious offence of manslaughter.
They are 19-year-old Sean Wylds, of Alcombe, Minehead, and a 16-year-old Porlock youth whose identity is protected by the law because of his age.
They are both due to make a second appearance in Exeter Crown Court on March 18.
Wylds has been remanded in custody, but the 16-year-old was given bail by the judge on condition he lived in the meantime with relatives in London and observed a nighttime curfew.
Mr Chilcott, aged 36, was found unconcious in Minehead town centre in the early hours of Sunday, January 20.
He died 36 hours later in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, where he had been put on a life support machine.
Mr Chilcott, who lived with his elderly parents in Hillview Close, Minehead, had suffered severe head injuries. The results of a post mortem to determine the cause of death have not been released, because of the forthcoming trial.

Judge frees manslaughter charge youth on bail

ONE of two youths accused of killing Minehead man Tim Chilcott has been released from custody by a judge.
The 16-year-old was granted bail when he appeared on a manslaughter charge in Exeter Crown Court yesterday, Tuesday, January 29.
Judge Graham Cottle ordered the youth to live with a relative in Edmonton, London, while on bail and to report to his local police station every Friday.
The judge also imposed an 8 pm to 6 am curfew on the teenager and banned him from entering Somerset other than to attend appointments with his legal team.
The youth was further ordered not to contact any witnesses in the case, nor any other defendants.
The teenager appeared in court with 19-year-old Sean Wylds, of Alcombe, Minehead, who was also charged with manslaughter following Mr Chilcott's death in hospital on January 21, 36 hours after he had been found unconscious in a Minehead town centre street.
Wylds was remanded in custody.
Judge Cottle adjourned the hearing for seven weeks while prosecution papers were prepared, with a view to taking a plea and holding a case management hearing five weeks later.

• Meanwhile, an inquest into Mr Chilcott's death was opened yesterday, when evidence was given that he died from a fractured skull.
  Two policemen who found Mr Chilcott lying at the junction of Blenheim Road and The Avenue at first thought he was all right but then realised he had blood on his mouth and chin and that the pupils of his eyes were dilated.

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.