Prisoner From Norwich Given Full Life Sentence For Jail Murder

23 September 2013, 12:49 | Updated: 23 September 2013, 12:59

A prisoner from Norwich is one of two men to be given a full life sentence for the murder of a man whilst in jail.

Two prisoners tied up and strangled a fellow inmate from West Yorkshire while already serving life sentences for murder.

Lee Newell from Norwich, 44, and Gary Smith, 48, were both handed whole life sentences by a judge at Warwick Crown Court for the `chilling' murder of convicted child-killer Subhan Anwar.

The 24-year-old victim, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was also serving a life term for murder, having been convicted of killing his partner's two-year-old daughter in 2008.

Ruling that Newell and Smith should never be considered for parole, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: ``There is in reality no mitigating factor in either of your cases.''

He continued: `You pretended that you were there merely to hold him hostage.

`I am quite satisfied that this was merely pretence on both your parts in order to ensure that the deceased didn't resist while you tied him up.

`One of the most chilling aspects of this case was the almost complete lack of emotion shown by either of you after the killing.

`It is against this background that I have to consider whether the circumstances of this murder are such that it is one of those exceptional cases where its seriousness is of such magnitude so as to require the making of a whole life order.

`In my judgement they are - you have both murdered others before, on this occasion you did so in a cold-blooded manner, having deliberately lulled your victim into a false sense of security.

`You both acted in a calm and unemotional manner ... eventually leaving (Anwar's) cell with items of his personal property being worn as trophies of your exploits.

Newell had previously been jailed for killing his neighbour in 1989.