A killer who left his victim to die a "slow" and "painful" death following a brutal attack has been jailed. Police believe Daniel Griffiths flew into a jealous rage after suspecting Andrew Guy of chatting up his girlfriend.
Mr Guy, 54, text Griffiths saying he was in '10 out of 10 pain' following the "vicious" baseball attack in October last year. The victim had been delivering drugs to Griffiths at his home in Audlem, Cheshire, which the 43-year-old shared with his partner.
Neighbours heard 'an argument' between Andrew and the couple, during which Griffiths used a baseball bat to attack him. 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.
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Last week, Griffiths was convicted by a jury of Mr Guy's manslaughter. He was today (May 11) sentenced at Chester Crown Court to eight years and six months.
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.
Cheshire Constabulary’s major investigation team to pieced 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.
