A man who killed his close friend in a vicious assault while on a fishing trip was today convicted of murder.
Nathan Muat was told by a judge that he will be jailed for life but sentence was adjourned until tomorrow when the minimum term he will serve will be decided.
45-year-old Muat had thought he had got away with murder after claiming that victim Peter Seeclear had had an epileptic fit - but a post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered severe chest injuries.
Members of Mr Seeclear’s large family, who attended Liverpool Crown Court every day of the eight day trial, gasped with relief and wept when the unanimous verdict was announced by the jury following almost six hours of deliberations. One of the seven women jurors was also in tears.
Muat, of Upper Parliament Street, Toxteth , had claimed he acted in self-defence after Mr Seeclear, also 45, had sworn at him and hit him on the head.
But the court heard that although the two men were apparently best friends after meeting in a mosque nine years ago and he became his carer he used to bully Mr Seeclear, also known as Sulliman.
As well as the fatal injuries he suffered, including 12 smashed ribs, it was found that the victim had suffered seven other broken ribs and cuts, bruises and abrasions in the days and weeks preceding the fatal attack.
Guy Gozem, QC, prosecuting, said that the defendant the victim, “like a servant, if not a dog".
Muat, also known as Abdul Haq, which means “servant of truth”, claimed that Mr Seeclear died suddenly while they were on a fishing trip at Stadt Moers Park in Whiston on October 30 last year.
He ran to a couple’s home in nearby Priory Close claiming that Mr Seeclear, of The Elms, Toxteth, had had a fit and asked them to call an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and found him dead.
Powerfully built Muat pleaded not guilty to murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter. Giving evidence he claimed he “really loved” Mr Seeclear and said he had fought back when he had hit him, and had wanted to hurt him but not kill him or cause really serious harm.
The following day Mr Seeclear stayed in his tent resting while he went fishing and when he returned and helped me out of the tent to urinate that he fell on his face and appeared to be having a fit.
He denied knowing that his friend had been in agony and dying after the assault in which he admitted punching him more than five times, repeatedly kicking him and kneeing him in the chest.
