A man who text his killer that he was in '10 out of 10 pain' after a brutal baseball attack died a "slow and painful" death. The trigger for the vicious attack was a misguided jealous rage.
Police believe Daniel Griffiths assaulted Andrew Guy because he wrongly thought he was chatting up his partner. Griffiths launched the attack shortly after he had sent his partner a text message saying 'on way babe, 10 mins'.
Andrew, 54, had been delivering drugs to Griffiths at his home in Audlem, Cheshire, which the 43-year-old shared with his partner. However, neighbours heard 'an argument' between Andrew and the couple, during which Griffiths used a baseball bat to attack him.
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Andrew was able to drive home to his mother's but text Griffiths and his partner's phone saying he was in '10 out of 10 pain'. He was found dead by his mother the next morning after suffering significant internal bleeding. Now, Griffiths has been convicted by a jury of manslaughter.
'I'm in 10/10 pain'
Griffiths' trial had heard how on Friday, October 15, Andrew had travelled to his mother’s home in Buerton, Crewe, by train from Bournemouth where he had been living for around four months. The following afternoon he drove to Market Drayton and Whitchurch to meet with friends.
"While in Whitchurch he received a text message and a phone call from Griffith’s partner, from a mobile phone allegedly used by both Griffiths and his partner," a Cheshire Police spokesman said.
"Andrew arrived at the pair’s house at around 7pm to bring them drugs and shortly afterwards a neighbour heard raised voices involving an argument between Andrew and the couple. During this time Griffiths has dragged Andrew outside and inside the property during which he used a baseball bat to hit him in the stomach and leg."
After the assault, Andrew drove back to Buerton and changed clothes before picking up a takeaway in Market Drayton that he’d promised to bring home to his mother. While waiting for the takeaway he sent text messages to Griffiths and his partner’s phone saying he was in ’10 out of 10’ pain in his stomach and bleeding as a result of the injuries inflicted upon him.
When he returned home the pain from the assault intensified and he confided in his mother that Griffiths had ‘set about me’ with a baseball bat. The following morning at around 10.15am on Sunday, October 17, Andrew was found in the bathroom.
An ambulance attended to the property and despite best efforts by paramedics and his mother Andrew could not be revived. A post mortem found Andrew had died due to a large amount of internal bleeding in to his abdomen from blunt force trauma.
'Andrew died an agonising and slow death'
Cheshire Constabulary’s major investigation team to piece together Andrew’s movements in the run up to and after the attack using telecoms data as well as CCTV footage. On Friday, October 29, 2021 Griffiths was arrested at his address and subsequently charged. The baseball bat was recovered from his property.
Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon, said: “Andrew died an agonising and slow death due to extensive internal bleeding after being struck numerous times from Griffiths hitting him with what we believe was a baseball bat.
“While we may never know exactly why Andrew was attacked by Griffiths we believe the reason was closer to home than over bringing drugs to the address and because he wrongly thought Andrew was romantically interested in his girlfriend.
“Since Andrew died it has been a difficult time for his mother and his family and friends and our thoughts have been with them since he passed away. We have worked incredibly hard to ensure that we were able to find his killer and to be able to give him and his family the justice they deserve.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the investigation that has led us to where we are today including key witnesses and members of the public who came forward with information as well as the investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Following the guilty verdict Andrew’s family have paid tribute to him: “While it doesn’t ease the pain we’ve been caused by Andrew’s senseless death, we are grateful for the guilty verdict today. Andrew did not deserve to die the way he did, and the trauma of it has left its mark on all of us.
“We would like to thank all of the people who bravely came forward to offer help and information to the police and also those who came to court to give evidence so that the person responsible for Andrew’s death could be brought to justice.
“We would also like to thank Cheshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service for all of their hard work. Especially Detective Inspector Dave Hutcheon, Detective Sergeant Paul Nolan and the rest of their team. The work of the detectives is an honour to Andrew’s memory. The support of the family liaison officers Tom and Sarah and victim support officer Helen has helped us navigate this extremely difficult time and we could not have coped without them.
“Andrew was a dear son, brother, uncle and father and we will miss him terribly. We would like to ask that we now be allowed to grieve in private and come to terms with our future without him.”
Griffiths was found guilty of Andrew’s manslaughter following a 15-day trial at Chester Crown Court. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday May 11th.
