Ipswich guest house trial: Warren Atkinson accused of murder

Published:
6:00 AM May 27, 2022

An Ipswich gentleman allegedly battered a fellow visitor dwelling resident to death right after putting him “a lot of situations” to the head and neck, a jury listened to. 

Warren Atkinson, 41, is alleged to have carried out the attack on Steven Povey in a tiny communal kitchenette at the Beaumont Guest Household, on Norwich Highway, Ipswich, in which they had been both of those living on July 9, 2021. 

Mr Povey, 37, was discovered lying on the floor in the kitchenette, found on the best ground of the guest house, with a wooden espresso table standing on major of him, Ipswich Crown Courtroom read. 

There had been no witnesses to the incident by itself, and there was no record of challenges among the two adult men prior to the alleged murder, Simon Spence QC told the jury as he opened the prosecution scenario. 

Beaumont Guest Residence on Norwich Street in Ipswich
– Credit score: Archant

The court docket heard how the woman who runs Beaumont Guest Dwelling was doing some chores on the initial floor with earphones in when she read banging. 

She took her earphones out and believed the banging was coming from the ground previously mentioned so went to examine, Mr Spence reported. 

As the landlady went up the slender flight of stairs, she saw Atkinson coming out of the kitchenette and observed he had blood on him. 

Atkinson manufactured a remark about Mr Povey, which she did not listen to clearly, and the landlady then discovered Mr Povey unconscious just after heading into the kitchenette. 

Mr Spence mentioned one established of legs of the “considerably-sized” desk was on Mr Povey’s upper body, when the other set was on his legs.

Mr Povey’s facial area was battered, purple and swollen, and the female straight away termed for an ambulance, the jury listened to.

Paramedics arrived and tried out to aid Mr Povey, but he was pronounced lifeless at 5.35pm. 

A publish-mortem assessment exposed there had been various spots of sizeable blunt pressure trauma to the head and neck, and 62 individual injuries in whole. 

Toxicology checks also discovered Mr Povey’s blood alcohol focus to be 381microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – which is extra than 4-and-a-half times the limit for driving in the Uk.

Atkinson’s dresses were also identified to have “a broad distribution of Mr Povey’s blood” on them adhering to examination. 

Unexpected emergency motor vehicles at the scene in Norwich Street, Ipswich, on Friday, July 9. A murder probe has been introduced just after a male died following an assault at Beaumont Guest Dwelling
– Credit rating: Archant

Pursuing his arrest, Atkinson gave a well prepared statement to law enforcement officers in job interview, stating he had absent into the kitchenette to make some toast. 

He reported he thought Mr Povey was pretty drunk as he was swaying from facet to aspect, and claimed he saw him slide ahead, banging his head on the sink and table in the corner, and “there was blood in all places”. 

Atkinson explained he went around to assistance Mr Povey but immediately after receiving him upright, he fell more than again, hitting the wall and potentially the table. 

This resulted in Atkinson getting protected in blood, he instructed officers, and when he realised Mr Povey was motionless, he still left the kitchenette to get assistance. 

Mr Spence informed the jury: “As you will hear during the proof, that account is flatly contradicted by equally the pathologist who examined Mr Povey’s injuries and a forensic scientist, who examined the blood staining at the scene.

“Equally of them separately and independently concluded that their results were being regular with a forceful and sustained assault and inconsistent with self-inflicted accidental injuries.”

Atkinson, of Norwich Highway, Ipswich, has denied murder and an different cost of manslaughter. 

The trial, which is anticipated to past a few to 4 weeks, proceeds.