How pub friendship ended in brutal tragedy for Walsall murder victim
He held out the hand of friendship to a drifter who repaid the kindness by battering him to death.
Edwin ‘Eddie’ Bradley met Darren Barnes in a Walsall pub in May last year and the pair appeared to get on well together.
The 65-year-old former butcher and ice cream salesman allowed the 48-year-old with a history of violence to spend nights at his two-bedroom flat in St Thomas Close in Coalpool, Walsall.
Mr Bradley’s marriage had ended and he had little contact with his former wife and their daughter. He had lived alone in the flat for around six years.
'Stomach churning'
He was a popular member of the Amery Club in Short Heath and his 64-year-old brother Malcolm, who lives in Willenhall, recalled: “He could make friends with anyone but had a black belt at karate and could protect himself.
“If he had seen anything coming when Barnes attacked him it would have been a different story. When we heard what had happened to him it knocked us all about.”
His other brother Les, 62, from Oldbury added: “It was stomach churning to discover the way he killed him.”
Mr Bradley was not universally popular among his neighbours in the block of flats where he lived and had been convicted of indecently exposing himself to one of them.
Denise Morrall, who lived directly below him, complained to Walsall Housing Group about the noise he made when he returned home in the early hours from his last job at a parcel depot.
She claimed: “He could be anti-social and obnoxious.”
Convictions
Barnes was a drifter still without a settled home at the age of 48 who, in November 2017, had moved into a room at Bloxwich Road, Walsall - his last known address - where his rent was paid by social services.
He had no proper work but occasionally did odd jobs of gardening which left him dirty and dishevelled.
He liked a drink, had a history of violence and a short temper which was a potentially toxic mix.
He was convicted of wounding with intent 12 years ago after smashing a fellow drinker in the face with a pint glass during an argument at a pub.
Since then he had been convicted of criminal damage, assault and being drunk and disorderly.
23 fracutres
Mr Bradley told friends he got on well with Barnes who savagely attacked him in early July, hitting him over the head with a bottle before kicking and stamping on him as he lay defenceless on the living room floor.
Mr Bradley suffered 23 fractures to his rib cage with the sharp ends of the damaged bones causing catastrophic internal injuries which led to respiratory failure and death.
The murder is thought to have taken place between July 3 and 4.
The DNA and fingerprints of Barnes were found at the address where he had been sleeping.
He was seen pulling a suitcase and carrying a distinctive guitar case that matched one owned by Mr Bradley - that was never recovered - on the morning of July 4 when he left the area and changed his mobile phone.
The body was discovered under a three-feet high pile of household goods in the living room after a neighbour raised the alarm on July 6.
Barnes stole watches, jewellery and possibly cash.
Smear attempt
He later claimed he battered the victim after discovering he was a ‘paedo’ and took the hard drive of the victim’s computer in a bid to support this bogus claim.
It was recovered from a caravan park in Derby where the defendant stayed after the murder but police found no indecent images on it.
Mr Bradley’s brother Malcolm insisted: “There is no way in the world he was a paedophile.”
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Officers traced the defendant to The Plough pub in Brackenfield near Matlock and arrested him on July 27.
A detective showed his ID, confirmed the identity of the man and said: ‘We need to speak to you.’
Barnes replied: ‘Are you arresting me for murder?’ Then he told officers: “He deserved it. He was a nonce( sex offender). If I could do it again I would. I should have buried him and then you would never have found him.”
When formally interviewed at the police station he made no comment about the apparent admissions.
Then he said in a statement prepared by his solicitor that he had been drunk and was ‘joking’ but by then he had talked his way into a hole so deep he could not get out.
