Essex Man Jailed For Killing Neighbour

A man from Westcliff who killed his neighbour after he made fun of his "man boobs" has been jailed for life.

Gary Brown, 38, killed Roger Berwick by beating him with a chair leg and later told Chelmsford Crown Court that he became angry because the 66-year-old former barrister would not stop laughing at his "moobs".

Mr Brown had denied the murder but was sentenced to serve at least 14 and a half years of a life sentence after a jury convicted him of the killing.

During his trial, Mr Brown said he had been drinking with Mr Berwick in his bedsit in Palmerston Road, Westcliff, when his friend began laughing at him and insulting his mother.

The scuffle began after Mr Berwick mocked Brown's "man boobs", the defendant, who handed himself in to police, told Chelmsford Crown Court.

"I asked him to leave but he didn't," he said. `"He kept laughing and got up and had this shot glass in his hand and he went for me with it.

"I hit him about three times. I remember hitting him and that's it."

Mr Berwick was left with a serious head injury, 25 fractures to his ribs, a broken breast bone, broken jaw, broken arm and broken finger.

Detective Chief Inspector Godfrey O'Toole, from the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate said: "Roger Berwick was a frail and vulnerable man.

"In January this year he died as a result of the terrible injuries inflicted upon him during a sustained and brutal attack by the defendant, Gary Brown."