A MAN accused of killing a student at a New Year’s Eve party had stopped taking his medication and was high at the time of murder, a court has heard.

Billy Henham was allegedly beaten unconscious, stripped naked and thrown off a balcony at a disused building in Brighton on January 1, 2020.

The 24-year-old, from Henfield, suffered 11 rib fractures, extensive bruising to his scalp, face and neck and a brain injury.

Gregory Hawley, 29, Dushane Meikle, 27, Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20, and 18-year-old Alize Spence are on trial accused of his murder.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Hawley said he took drugs and drank five or six beers during the evening.

He also said he had stopped taking his medication for paranoia sometime before December 31.

The court heard that Hawley was a drug addicts who grew up in Brighton and went to both primary and secondary schools in the area, eventually leaving education with three GCSEs.

His drug habit started with legal highs at the age of 14, and by the time he was 16 he was using ecstasy, heroin and crack cocaine, the court was told.

By adulthood, the former shop worker and painter and decorator was unemployed and sofa-surfing, living in squats or on the streets.

Hawley has 13 previous convictions for 31 offences dating back to 2008 when he was just 15.

He said his previous convictions for theft and burglary were committed to feed his drug addiction.

While he denied being in charge of the squat where Billy was killed, he admitted acting as its “lawyer”.

He told the jury he was not aware of “any difficulties” involving anyone at the party or knowing of anyone being attacked.

However, the court had previously been told that Hawley allegedly spoke of seeing Billy’s final breath and having to “clean up the mess” with disinfectant.

The Argus: Billy Henham Billy Henham

Billy, who studied film and photography at Ravensbourne University in London, was last seen at 4.30am in All Sorts off-licence in North Street, diagonally opposite the squat where a New Year's Eve party was held.

His body, which had been dropped over balcony railings from a height of nearly 11ft, was discovered by police the following day.

Forensic experts discovered disinfectant in his hair while bloodstained areas where he had been beaten appeared to have been “diluted”, the court heard.

The jury was told that while his injuries would have rendered him unconscious, Billy would have been alive for at least an hour after the violent attack.

Police also found two deleted photos on Meikle’s phone of Billy’s body on the roof terrace.

Meikle, of Amberley Drive, Hove, Gordon-Carew, of Cheeseman Close, Hampton, Middlesex, Hawley, of no fixed address, and Spence, of Makepeace Road, Northolt, Middlesex, all deny murder.

The trial continues.