A man discovered his lover watching "depraved" videos of children being abused minutes after they had sex. David Lane was so horrified by what he witnessed he later took a hammer and attacked Peter Ash while he was in bed.
He reacted after Ash refused to stop showing the videos, carrying out a frenzied attack with the hammer to the side of his head. The two men then used a knife and scissors as the melee continued before Lane was forced out of Ash’s flat, before Ash fled for help, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Lane, of Middlewich, returned to the flat to get his clothes then took an Uber home where he immediately called the police who he told: “I tried to kill somebody, I imagine he’s in more pain than me”… “I saw the TV and what he said and couldn’t stop myself”…. “My intention was to kill him so he can’t hurt anyone else”.
Lane, 35, was originally charged with attempted murder but the prosecution later accepted a guilty plea to causing wounding with intent, as a result of his police interview, in which he said he had not intended to kill him.
Peter Ash later admitted to five offences of possession of indecent images, eight drug trafficking offences and one of simple possession of drugs. The 49-year-old will be sentenced later this month.
Prosecuting, Henry Blackshaw said Lane and Ash met on Grindr, in a group called ‘Northwest Slammers’ which is slang for injecting crystal meth. They had talked on Telegram, with Ash using the username ‘UKhungperv” and Lane, “Dennis The motherf******g menace”.
The two arranged to meet for sex and to take drugs on June 28. Ash collected Lane from his home in Middlewich and brought him to his house in Gorton.
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
Manchester Crown Court was told the pair had sex and took drugs including crystal meth and GHB, before Lane fell asleep. At around 2am he awoke to see Ash watching the videos.
Mr Blackshaw said: "He describes that when he came round, he witnessed Ash viewing obscene material on the TV screen in the attic bedroom. This included very graphic sexual and violent imagery showing extreme harm of children."
The court was told Lane had suffered from abuse and neglect during his childhood and was physically abused in a recent adult relationship, and has since been diagnosed with PTSD. A psychiatrist concluded in a report that the condition would not cause him to lose control, but it would make him more vulnerable.
After watching and sharing the videos, Ash fell asleep. Lane then armed himself with a hammer that he had previously used to put a picture up in his sister’s house, and struck Ash to the back of the head.
Mr Blackshaw continued: “Unsurprisingly he wakes up and starts to try to defend himself. A chaotic and violent melee then ensued, with both men using what was to hand.
“Ash describes Lane then arming himself with what was a small knife, which was in the room from them eating. Such an item has not been recovered, though it is right to say that Ash had a serious hand injury consistent with the use of such an implement.
“Ash also states that Lane armed himself with scissors, which broke and were also used against him, seemingly to cause the superficial lacerations to his torso.”
Lane was forced onto the stairs where he ran down and armed himself with a large knife and a mirror. He did not go back upstairs until Ash left the flat, the court heard.
Ash was left with nine wounds to his head, tenderness to the right temple, a fractured cheekbone and had since undergone surgery to his hand.
After leaving the flat, Lane told police of what happened, and about the images Ash had shown him. In his police interview, he was asked about his initial call in which he stated he ‘tried to kill someone.'
He said: “Wouldn’t you want someone dead if they were watching that, seeing what he does to children, young boys, doing what he did to me. But then I didn’t want to kill him.
“Part of me did and part of me didn’t. Killing him would be wrong, and that’s what I was telling myself.
“I didn’t just get the hammer and hit him straight away. I was thinking it over and over. I was thinking about the screams over and over in my head, and no one was helping the children.”
Mitigating for Lane, Brenda Campbell KC said her client was in ‘free fall’ at the time, after being the victim in an abusive relationship, and had experienced trauma, abuse and neglect as a child.
She said he was working as a carer for vulnerable adults at the time, and was described by friends and colleagues as ‘talented, devoted and a kind young man’.
“He has a really good heart and good character. He then got into a relationship, an abusive relationship. It was characterised by physical and sexual abuse. This led him back to drugs and back to his parents home,” Ms Campbell said.
“He was due to go back to London that day. His life took a very significant turn for the worse. It's an unusual day when the defendant's version of events is perhaps more credible and in reality more honest.
“It’s accepted he voluntarily engaged in conversation, it’s accepted he took the drugs and engaged in sexual acts. Thereafter he felt increasingly trapped in the environment.”
Ms Campbell said the videos showed ‘unspeakable and unthinking violence’ and that her client asked Ash to stop and he didn’t. She said he accepted causing the first strike.
She added that Lane helped the police to stop a ‘dangerous man’ and his directions led them exactly to find evidence of the ‘most heinous and unspeakable’ type. She said: “He was motivated to ensure those children are protected from this sort of harm he witnessed. This is a very exceptional case.”
Concluding her mitigation, she said Lane has spent seven months in custody and clean of drugs but was ‘routinely under supervision for the risk of suicide and self harm’.
Sentencing, Judge John Potter said: “After 2am a violent incident occurred. By now you had both returned to his house and it appears you fell asleep and you awoke at 2am to discover him watching depraved videos of the sexual and physical abuse of children on the TV.
“He was viewing this material but also sharing it with others. He showed you this material. I accept in the past you suffered serious abuse and neglect and physical abuse in a recent relationship as an adult. PTSD is no reason and no excuse but you can be viewed as vulnerable.
“I accept you asked Peter Ash to take you home a number of times but he refused to do so. Rather than taking you home he encouraged you to remain with him, drug taking and subjected you to seeing depraved and abusive images of serious harm being caused to children. I accept you find yourself in what was a frightening situation.”
Lane, of Cross Lane, was jailed for three years, of which he will serve half in prison, less the seven months he spent on remand. He will then be released on licence for the remainder of the sentence
Judge Potter said: “I acknowledge you have good character prior to committing the offence. I accept you have a PTSD diagnosis. You are a vulnerable individual with experience of trauma. You have suffered abuse in the past. This provides no excuse for what you accept you intended to do.”
He said Lane’s assistance with the police allowed them to discover Ash and the vile images and drugs he accessed. “They suggested he is a depraved individual who seems to enjoy and get sexual satisfaction from viewing images of children being sexually abused and harmed. He was also involved in class A drug dealing,” the judge said.
He said that it provided ‘no reason’ to injure him, and that Lane said he ‘wanted to make him understand the pain he inflicted on others’.
A previous version of this article reported that Ash pleaded guilty to five offences, including the 'distribution of indecent images'. In fact, these five charges related to the making of and possession of indecent images. We would like to make this clear.
