Gay teen left brain damaged after hammer attack by homophobic flatmate
A gay teenager living in Kent has been left brain damaged after having a hammer embedded into his skull in by his homophobic new flatmate.
Connor Huntley, 18, was hit over the head by new flatmate Joseph Williams as he slept in the two bedroom flat in Margate Kent.
After being admitted to hospital, he was treated for a depressed skull fracture and traumatic brain injury.
Following an operation to remove the claw hammer from his skull, as well as bone fragments and a blood clot, Mr Huntley was left with brain damage.
The BBC reports that Mr Huntley often wore make-up and women’s clothes, and had moved into the flat just hours before the attack.
Connor Huntley was hit at least twice with the claw hammer
The Old Bailey heard that the pair met on 27 May after being paired up by the property’s landlord.
Prosecuting Philip Bennetts QC, said the two were “not the obvious flatmates” and that Mr Williams had been heard making derogatory comments about gay people, and that he was from a Catholic background.
A friend of Mr Huntley arrived at the flat on the morning of 28 May to find him lying on his air bed with the hammer embedded in his head. Mr Bennetts told the court that he had been hit at least twice with the hammer.
During a 999 call, Mr Williams told the operator that he had hit Mr Huntley with the hammer, and when asked why, he said his mental health had “deteriorated”.
“The Crown says that to hit someone more than once with a hammer in their sleep hard enough for the hammer to be embedded in their head clearly demonstrates an intention to kill them,” Mr Bennetts said.
Mr Bennetts told the court that the injuries had been “life threatening”.
According to the BBC, a week before the attack Mr Willaims told a neighbour, a friend of Mr Huntley’s that he was unsure whether he could live with him without hitting him.
Mr Williams, of Athelstan Road, Cliftonville, Margate, has denied attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
The trial continues.
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