THE judge who presided over the Billy Henham trial and sentencing has set out in graphic detail the tragic circumstances of the New Year’s party in which the student was brutally murdered.

In delivering his sentencing remarks, His Honour Mr Justice John Cavanagh said that as the presiding judge, he was “sure that what follows is an accurate description of the circumstances of the murder, and of the part in it that was played by each of [the defendants]”.

Gregory Hawley and Dushane Meikle were each sentenced at Hove Crown Court to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 25 years, while Lamech Gordon-Carew, 20, and Alize Spence, 19, and who was just 16 at the time of the murder, were each sentenced to minimum terms of 18 years in prison.

Mr Justice Cavanagh continued: “Gregory Hawley, you were an experienced squatter and were leader of the squat at 30-31 North Street. Lamech Gordon-Carew and Alize Spence, you had travelled down together to Brighton from London to sell drugs, and you were staying at the squat.

“You, Dushane Meikle, were a well-known figure in the homeless community in Brighton and had visited the squat on New Year’s Eve 2019 to attend the party and to provide security.

“Your street name was Flames. All of you had been taking drugs and drinking alcohol throughout the evening.”

The judge said that it will “remain a mystery” why the four men murdered the student but said the assault took place in two locations and that it was a “prolonged” attack.

“First, he was taken up to a room on the second floor of the building at 30-31 North Street and was savagely beaten,” said the judge. “[Gordon-Carew and Spence] hit and kicked Bill Henham in the head and body, and he was left bleeding on the floor.

“You then dragged his body along the ground and took him down a staircase to the first floor. From there, the four of you were involved in taking him to the back door of the first floor.”

A partygoer who witnessed this part of the attack on the student, who lived in Henfield and was a student at Ravensbourne University, London, was praised by the judge for his bravery after they gave evidence against the four men.

Billy was then beaten with wooden spindles that had been taken from a staircase and kicked in the head, face and body, with one witness later telling the court that he could hear “screaming coming from the room”.

“There can be no doubt the pain and suffering that you put Bill Henham through was agonising and terrifying,” said the judge.

At one point, Hawley spoke about burning down the building to conceal the crime, said the judge, who added: “As a final act of degradation, you Dushane Meikle, took photographs of Bill’s partially naked and then fully naked body, which you then tried, unsuccessfully, to delete from your phone.”

Hawley has a previous conviction for possessing a bladed article in a public place, as does Spence and Meikle. Gordon-Carew has no previous convictions.

The court heard that some of Billy Henham’s ashes will be scattered near a memorial bench overlooking Brighton.

READ MORE: Billy Henham murder: life imprisonment for convicted murderers