unsolved-murders.co.uk
Unsolved Murders
Tags

Thomas Roberts

Age: 43

Sex: male

Date: 25 Dec 2016

Place: Ashgill Road, Milton, Glasgow

Thomas Roberts died following a fight. He was found in a puddle in a court behind some flats.

He died from head injuries in what the police described as a sustained attack.

A 35-year-old man was tried but a verdict of not proven was returned. However, the 35-year-old man was convicted of assaulting Thomas Roberts's 50-year-old friend, although it was noted that at the trial that the 35-year-old man had said that it had been Thomas Roberts's 50-year-old friend that had murdered Thomas Roberts.

Thomas Roberts was found in a communal area behind flats in Milton at about 4am on 25 December 2016 by the police and was taken to hospital where he later died. He had been kept on life support until his family arrived. They were called for at 9.05am and were with him when his life support was switched off at 10.45am.

The police had already attended Thomas Roberts's flat, about 100 yards from where he was later found injured, a few hours earlier at about 11.30pm after neighbours reported a three hour row there. After the police attended his flat relatives took his teenage daughter away with them. A neighbour said that there had been 'shouting and bawling' coming from his flat from about 8pm. She said, 'I could hear Thomas and a female voice and stuff being shouted like ‘get out my house. A neighbour called the cops about 11.15pm. About 11.30pm, the police turned up to calm everything down. His daughter got taken away by relatives with all her presents and there was no noise after that'.

It was said that Thomas Roberts was later attacked whilst walking his dog.

A man that saw the attack said that he saw the 35-year-old man punch Thomas Roberts on the head and face and then chase him when he fled. The man said that when he caught up with them he heard a dull thumping sound and then saw the 35-year-old man standing over Thomas Roberts who was lying face down. He said that Thomas Roberts was 'making gurgling noises like he was trying to mumble something, but it wasn’t words'

It was noted that the 35-year-old man looked like a bodybuilder.

He said that Thomas Roberts had come to his flat in Balmore Road for a drink and that the other man, who lived upstairs, later turned up at his door 'ranting and raving like a maniac'. The man said that he sat with the other man and tried to calm him down and said that Thomas Roberts came out twice to ask him if he was Ok but said that he told him to go back inside on each occasion.

He said that the other man then became even more enraged and then shouted, 'What the f*** is he doing?', and then kicked in the door to the house and shot in. He said, 'By the time I got into the living room he was standing over the top of Thomas and punching him on the face and head'. He said that Thomas Roberts was trying to cover his face and head with his hands and arms.

The man said that he then told Thomas Roberts to go home but said that the other man chased him into the close. The man said that he followed them and then saw the other man kneeling on Thomas Roberts and punching, kicking and stamping on his body, striking his head on the floor and dragging him across the ground.

Following the murder, the 50-year-old man was also taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he was treated for injuries.

It was said that the court in which the assault took place was overlooked by dozens of flats and that a number of neighbours later gave the press graphic accounts of what had happened, but that when the police arrived they all said nothing as they wanted nothing to do with the police or the courts.

It was said that the attack on Thomas Roberts had lasted about 30 minutes, during which the 35-year-old man had paraded and frogmarched Thomas Roberts around.

One witness said, 'It's beyond horrific. The victim was screaming for help and no one came. He was being attacked by a much bigger man, a bodybuilder. He was being paraded at one point. He was being taunted. He had his head repeatedly smashed off the ground, then he was being lifted up again. It's absolutely sickening, beyond what anyone could ever expect to see. This lasted half an hour. The victim was then dragged across gardens into the street and dumped in a puddle'. The witness said that a number of people heard banging on their doors in the minutes before the attack, but that no one had answered their doors because they were afraid.

Another witness that heard the assault said that they heard a man shout, 'Scream all you like. Nobody can hear you. Shout it louder. Tell them you’re not coming back'.

At the trial the 35-year-old man denied attacking Thomas Roberts and said that he had gone to the flat because someone had stolen his jacket and said that it was the 50-year-old man that had attacked Thomas Roberts.

The 35-year-old man said that the 50-year-old man had assaulted Thomas Roberts and that it had been him that had tried to stop it.

The 35-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months for the assault on the 50-year-old man, but because of the amount of time that he had spent on remand, he was released immediately.

Thomas Roberts was a painter and decorator and had three children.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.