Four men jailed for murdering Frazer Brabant

Four men have been jailed (14 July 2023) at Winchester Crown Court for brutally attacking Frazer Brabant in October 2019, who died three months later from his horrific injuries.

Scott Neale, 35, Forhad Miah, 32, Lee Wood, 32 and James O’Connor, 25, were all found guilty of murder after a seven-week trial that concluded in June this year.

In addition, Scott Neale, Forhad Miah and Lee Wood were found guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and violent disorder.

They were sentenced today to life imprisonment, with Scott Neale receiving life imprisonment with a minimum of 29 years, Forhad Miah receiving life imprisonment with a minimum of 28 years, Lee Wood receiving life imprisonment with a minimum of 29 years and 247 days, and James O'Connor receiving life imprisonment witha minimum of 25 years. 

A fifth man, Ricky Lewis, 40, was found guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment.

Neale, Miah, Wood and O’Connor attacked Frazer Brabant, aged 31 at the time of his death, having sought revenge for an earlier incident when Frazer stole cannabis from Scott Neale.

The men planned to get him back, with Neale, Miah, Wood and Lewis hunting for Frazer on two previous occasions, before locating him at an address in Gershwin Road, Basingstoke, during the late evening of 31 October 2019.

They chased Frazer out of the property and attacked him in a neighbouring front-garden, using weapons to inflict very serious, and ultimately unsurvivable, head injuries. The group of men thought they had killed Frazer that night, but tragically it was another three months before he died from the ferocious attack.

Anthony Johns, CPS Wessex Senior Crown Prosecutor, said: “This was a complex case, with crucial evidence from members of the public as well as important evidence from mobile phone data, calls, messages, and cellsite analysis proving that Neale, Miah, Wood and O’Connor had set out that night on a carefully planned mission to at least cause Frazer very serious injury, if not to kill him.

“The CPS, working closely with the police, built a strong case against these men by focusing on their movements and communications before and after the attack on Frazer, demonstrating their joint responsibility for his murder.

“Our thoughts continue to be with Frazer’s family, and we hope that today’s sentence will feel like justice has been delivered.”