The men guilty of murdering Billy Henham at NYE party in Brighton

Billy Henham was 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, a deep cut to his forehead and a brain injury.

• READ MORE: ‘Gentle and kind young man’ - parents pay tribute to murdered son

He was also struck with a broken wooden stair spindle.

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

Gregory Hawley, 29, Dushane Meikle, 28, Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20, and 18-year-old Alize Spence have all been found guilty of murder.

Alize Spence and Duschane Meikle

The four men will be sentenced at a later date.

Mugshots of the men have since been released by Sussex Police.

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.

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

Gregory Hawley and Lamech Gordon-Carew

The final sighting of Billy was at 4.30am in All Sorts off-licence in North Street, diagonally opposite the squat where a New Year's Eve party was held.

In a statement released by Billy’s family, he was remembered as a “free spirit who happily chatted to those he came across”.

“Billy, our son and Rory’s brother, was cruelly and coldly taken from us,” the statement said.

“It is hard to describe the horror of losing a family member to murder, especially in such a brutal and needless way. We cannot fathom as to why anyone would inflict such cruelty on someone so helpless.

“He was a kind and peaceful young man; a free spirit who happily chatted to those he came across. We can well imagine, in his impaired and vulnerable condition that night, he was drawn towards the squat party and went into the North Street building not understanding the danger he was putting himself in.

Three of the suspects partying on the balcony of the building in Brighton

“In CCTV pictures we’ve seen of him, across the road from the squat, it hurts not to be able to make him hear our cries, warning him not to go in.”

Billy, who studied at Ravensbourne University in London, had spent Christmas with his family but wanted to see in the new year in a “lively” atmosphere, the court was previously told.

Police said Billy was killed within a few hours of arriving at the party. 

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

When Meikle was arrested in Hove six days later, police found two deleted photos on his phone of Billy’s body on the roof terrace.