Home Articles & letters news Three jailed for killing Shaun Fitton - Atherton

Three jailed for killing Shaun Fitton - Atherton

Shaun FittonTwo men and a woman have been jailed for killing a man in Atherton. 

Shaun Beatty (born 16/09/1989) of West Bank Street, Atherton, and Owen Skeat (born 18/11/1986) of Bowling Green Row, Atherton, were jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years. 

Rebecca Birt (born 06/09/1987) of West Bank Street, Atherton, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment. 

On sentencing, the judge described the murder as both sexually motivated and sadistic. 

Beatty and Skeat were convicted of the murder of Shaun Fitton and Birt of his manslaughter at an earlier hearing at Liverpool Crown Court. 

On Sunday 30 August 2009, Shaun bought some alcohol at about 9.45pm and went to Birt and Beatty's home on West Bank Street. 

Shaun, 26, quickly became drunk and made sexual advances towards Birt, which angered Beatty, as he and Birt had been a couple for about a year. 

Beatty punched Shaun in the face and pushed him into the back yard. 

They brought Shaun back in after a short time because they heard him snoring in the back yard, Beatty apologised for his behaviour and the three carried on drinking together. 

Shaun became so drunk that Beatty needed help to carry him out of the house. 

He got Skeat, who was a friend of Shaun and at a house nearby, to come and help him. 

Instead of carrying Shaun out of the house, Beatty, Birt and Skeat started attacking Shaun. 

Shaun suffered head injuries and was attacked with a mop, which caused severe internal damage to his organs. They also covered him in white paint. 

Birt denied being present while Beatty and Skeat attacked Shaun with the mop handle but video footage was recovered that showed Shaun lying naked face down on the kitchen floor while the prolonged assault was carried out. 

Voices can be heard offering encouragement to the attacker, one of those is Birt's, who was operating the camera. 

After the attack, Beatty and Skeat were seen throwing Shaun's naked body over the fence and putting it into a wheelie bin. 

They wheeled him up and down the street as he cried out in pain, knocked the bin over, put him back inside and wheeled him around again. Residents who saw this called police. 

Shaun died in hospital from multiple organ failure on Tuesday 1 September 2009. He had injuries to his face, head and body including a broken jaw, and his bowel had been perforated four times in the attack. 

The head and abdominal injuries were considered equally significant factors in the causing his death. 

Senior Investigating Officer Andy Tattersall said: "This was a cruel and senseless attack on a man, who through drink was barely able to stand let alone defend himself against such vicious and vile actions from people he thought of as friends. 

"These three people are equally responsible for his death - irrespective of who actually inflicted these horrible injuries because not one of them did anything to stop this or help Shaun and, in fact, encouraged each other. 

"I hope seeing those responsible getting the sentences they deserve provides some comfort for Shaun's family."

 

For pictures of the convicted three see [HERE].

 

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