A man who ordered pizza after stamping on the head of his “gentle giant” friend has been jailed for life for his murder.
Caine Lonsdale, 34, inflicted 63 separate wounds on 40-year-old Jonathan Dittia in Clifton, Nottinghamshire, on September 17 last year, and left him dead or dying in the living room of his own flat for an hour and a half before calling 999 at 8.32pm and telling the call handler he had “stomped” on the head of his friend.
Nottingham Crown Court heard on Friday that Lonsdale, of Lerwick Close in Clifton, ordered a pizza delivery to Mr Dittia’s flat after he inflicted the fatal wounds, and was seen on CCTV collecting it at the back gate of the ground-floor flat in Eddleston Drive still wearing blood-stained trainers.
Jailing Lonsdale, who wore a grey Adidas tracksuit and showed no emotion in the dock, Judge James Sampson said he must serve at least 15 years before he is eligible for parole for the “merciless and sustained” attack.
Prosecutor Jeremy Janes said Lonsdale and Mr Dittia, who was vulnerable and had learning difficulties, were friends and would see each other regularly to drink together, each taking it in turns to spend their benefit money on alcohol.
The court was told a neighbour reported hearing banging lasting around 10 minutes just before 6pm, which Judge Sampson said must have been when Lonsdale carried out the fatal attack.
After murdering his friend, Lonsdale went to his father’s address and said: “Ey up dad, I have killed a mate, or I think I have” before returning to the flat and calling 999 after his father told him to.
When police arrived, Lonsdale was outside the property and was “calm” and did not seem drunk, although it was accepted by Judge Sampson that he had been intoxicated at the time of the attack.
As well as bruises, wounds and abrasions to his head, neck and chest, Mr Dittia had a ligature mark around his neck consistent with a phone charging cable that Lonsdale had used to “throttle” him, Mr Janes told the court.
In a victim impact statement, Doris Brown, Mr Dittia’s grandmother, said her grandson was a “gentle person with a heart of gold”.
His sister, Claire Dittia, said she believed Lonsdale had exploited her brother’s vulnerabilities, adding: “We have all been hit like a tonne of bricks. My grandmother has lost her smile.
“I am so heartbroken, I would give anything to have him back.”
Stacey Dittia, Mr Dittia’s mother, said: “Despite being a big bloke, he wouldn’t have hurt a fly.
“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did. No one has the right to take another person’s life.”
Defending, Richard Thatcher said Lonsdale had an IQ of 72 and a “long-standing and chronic” alcohol problem that could have “impaired logical thought”.
He told the court: “Whatever it was that triggered that behaviour, he had neither the wisdom nor the sobriety to deal with it.”
Mr Thatcher said Lonsdale has “genuine remorse” for what he had done to his friend of many years and that he had not intended to kill him.
Sentencing him, Judge Sampson said: “You say you cannot now remember the incident, but it was a merciless and sustained attack on a defenceless man.
“You were intoxicated and this was almost certainly a disinhibitor. You used your shod foot as a weapon and the sustained nature of the attack must have resulted in mental and physical harm to Mr Dittia.
“This took place in his own home, where he should have been safe.
“Although you have a very low IQ and have suffered anxiety and depression, there was no disability which lowered your culpability.”
He said the 216 days Lonsdale has already been in custody will be taken off the sentence he must serve.
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