Life for killer who tortured victim

A Barrow man has been jailed for life for torturing and murdering a drinking companion who had let him stay in his home.

Barry McIver, 35, bound and gagged his victim before slashing him with a knife and cutting his neck in January 2003.

The murder came only days after McIver was freed from prison for an earlier attack.

Geoffrey Broadhurst, 52, had offered to let Barry McIver stay in his home in Cumbria on release from prison, but in return he was stripped, gagged and bound.

A flex was placed round his neck before he was murdered in his home on Yew Tree Gardens in Newbarns.

His body was only found when McIver was arrested for robbery 11 days later and told police about the killing.

Alcohol abuse

McIver, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to murder and the robbery.

He had thought the dead man was laughing at him behind his back and told police he only wanted to scare him.

Psychiatric reports showed McIver had a general diagnosis of personality disorder and had abused alcohol for years.

Preston Crown Court heard he was drunk on the night of the attack.

McIver was jailed for life with a seven-year concurrent sentence for robbery.