Life sentence for Burnley double murder killers

14/10/2011

Kenneth Howson and Daniel Waddington were sentenced to life imprisonment at Preston Crown Court today for the murders of James Atkinson and Neil Gilmore in Burnley in October 2010. Howson was ordered to serve a minimum term of 27 years and Waddington a minimum of 24 years.

James Atkinson and Neil Gilmore were beaten to death by Kenneth Howson and Daniel Waddington in the flat where they were living. Following a trial in March Daniel Waddington was convicted of the two murders and Kenneth Howson was convicted of murdering Neil Gilmore. He faced a retrial for James Atkinson’s murder after the jury failed to reach a verdict on that charge and was convicted by a new jury yesterday.

The two victims suffered terrible injuries in the attack when they were kicked, beaten and hit with a wine bottle and a large piece of wood after all four men had been drinking at the flat.

John Dilworth, Head of the North West Area Complex Case Unit, said: "James Atkinson and Neil Gilmore were killed in a brutal attack. We will probably never know exactly what went on in the flat that night but the injuries that they received could only have been inflicted in a sustained and vicious assault.

"Kenneth Howson admitted during the trial that he had violently assaulted James Atkinson but denied it was murder. It was the prosecution case that he had actually taken the lead in the violence and it was clear to us from the evidence that he had intended to kill James or cause him very serious injuries.

"It was important that we pursued the retrial for his murder so that we could get full justice for James' family."

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