Party night that ended in murder

CCTV image of Joel Taylor and Joshua Thomas

What began as a typical sixth-formers' night out in a city nightclub ended in tragedy with a 17-year-old brutally killed by three other teenagers.

The jury trying Andrew Rafferty, Joel Taylor, both 18, and 16-year-old Joshua Thomas heard the trio were at Cinderella's nightclub along with Ben.

Ben left at 0200 BST but no-one knows why he decided to walk home rather than catch a taxi with friends.

That decision cost him his life at the hands of three young killers.

It was while walking along the seafront Mumbles Road that Ben started talking to the trio and was invited to walk with them.

Andrew Rafferty (left) Joel Taylor (right) and Joshua Thomas attacked Ben

During the trial at Swansea Crown Court, it emerged that Ben had used his mobile phone, and when they reached the Texaco petrol station at Blackpill he used his Halifax debit card to withdraw money.

The group were getting along well and Ben bought Pot Noodles and crisps for himself and some of the others.

But suddenly the atmosphere changed.

Prosecutor Robin Spencer QC told the jury at Swansea Crown Court: "For no apparent reason, the younger two began to punch him in the face."

EMERGENCY CALL Operator: "How old is the patient?" Caller: "I would say in his 20s" Operator: "Is he conscious?" Caller: "No - he's dead. He looks as if he's been beat up, battered." Passing van driver's 999 call after Ben's body was discovered

"He was dragged onto the beach and the assault continued with all three of them taking part. Rafferty used his elbow to keep him on the ground, with the other two kicking and stamping on his head and body.

'Vicious and sustained'

"The motive was robbery. They knew he had a mobile and a cash card. They took them. They made him tell them a PIN number."

Rafferty went off to try to withdraw cash while the other two continued with their "vicious and sustained" attack.

By this time it was about 0430 BST, and the court heard that the last thing the defendants were about to do was call medical help for Ben.

They would also have taken a risk if they had left his body on the beach. So he was stripped, and dragged like a "rag doll," out into the sea, where he drowned.

Stamping

During the trial, tidal experts said Ben had been put into water 80cm deep after being carried out about 50m.

Ben's death shocked the city of Swansea

Ben's body was found by a man walking his dog, who asked a van driver to call the ambulance service.

A transcript of part of the the call illustrates the van driver's shock and how badly beaten Ben was:

Operator: "How old is the patient?"

Caller: "I would say in his 20s"

Operator: "Is he conscious?"

Caller: "No - he's dead. He looks as if he's been beat up, battered."

The operator asks the caller if anyone will try giving Ben mouth-to-mouth resusciation, but the caller will not.

Caller: "He's dead - he looks like he's been in the water for... he's dead, he's freezing."

The court also heard from a Swansea man who had driven to a nearby car park and saw the attack, although he did not realise what was happening at the time.

Timothy Parker said he passed a youth and saw movement on the beach, and originally thought two men were stamping on driftwood. One, he said, gave at least three "hard and hefty" stamps.

Only when he saw them drag the shape along the beach did he realise that it was in fact a person.

Mr Parker said it looked like they had a rag doll. But he told the court he was not sure if it was "just three lads messing about on the way home".

Rather than risk a confrontation, he went back to his car and returned home. Only the next day when Ben's death was publicised did he realise the significance and went to the police.

At their trial, none of the three defendants took the stand to give evidence on their own behalf.

Taylor and Thomas are now awaiting sentence for murder, while Rafferty - who had also denied murder - will be sentenced for manslaughter at a later date.