Overview
- The attack took place on November 23 at a first-floor flat on Allerton Close in Hartlepool where Mohammed Shaan Ali Rasul was found on the bedroom floor under a blood-stained duvet.
- A jury at Teesside Crown Court returned its verdict on Wednesday, acquitting 23-year-old Callum Howe of murder but finding him guilty of manslaughter after under four hours of deliberation.
- Prosecutors presented CCTV, police and paramedic testimony and forensic analysis saying Rasul suffered multiple blows to the face and head and was likely already dead when found.
- Howe told the court he acted in self-defence after a night of drug use and said he struck Rasul with the blunt side of an axe he inherited from his grandmother, while toxicology evidence pointed to cocaine, cannabis and pregabalin.
- After the incident Howe was seen stumbling outside, jumped from a second-floor window and assaulted or attempted to bite paramedics, and he will be held for a pre-sentence report ahead of his July 23 sentencing.