A judge has praised the dignity of the family of a man who died after being beaten unconscious by a drunken thug as their chaotic lifestyle was laid bare in court.

Mark Robinson suffered catastrophic head injuries when he was attacked in a friend’s flat by Raymond Whincup while he was under the influence of drink and drugs in July 2020.

The 40-year-old died the following August without ever fully recovering from the injuries he suffered in the early hours of the morning.

Whincup, formerly of Station Road, Redcar, pleaded guilty to manslaughter midway through his murder trial after jurors had heard ‘unreliable’ evidence from eye-witnesses.

Read more: Daughter of woman stabbed to death tells court of her shock at finding her body

Mr Justic Jay jailed the 36-year-old for ten years after the Crown Prosecution Service accepted the defendant’s plea of guilty to the lesser charge.

Chaotic lifestyle

Sentencing Whincup, the judge spoke of the chaotic lifestyle that the victim and the defendant had become embroiled in.

He said: “The circumstances of the assault and the events immediately leading up to it are far from clear because the eye-witness evidence is of poor quality and no one actually witnessed the assault itself.

“Lewis Skelton, who in his brief interview claimed to have witnessed the assault, is now deceased and I excluded his evidence as unreliable hearsay. Johnny Gregory has given a number of accounts over time and he is also unreliable.

“One obvious problem affecting all the evidence in this case is that everyone at the scene was either heavily drunk or under the influence of drugs, or both.”

The Northern Echo: Mark Robinson in happier times before he was killedMark Robinson in happier times before he was killed (Image: Cleveland Police)

The jury had heard how Mr Robinson was staying in Mr Gregory’s flat on Station Road, Redcar, at the time of the attack while Whincup lived in an upstairs flat in the same building.

CCTV footage showed Whincup and his friend Lewis Skelton leave the flat on several occasion to buy booze from a nearby garage forecourt shop before drinking it on the seafront or back in the flat.

Read more: Man jailed for ten years for the manslaughter of Mark Robinson

The judge said everyone’s blurred memories of the night meant it was difficult to piece together what actually happened when Whincup went downstairs to confront Mr Robinson after a row about a £20 debt.

He said: “You wanted to give him a beating, to do him in. I am sure that you roused him and I am also sure that he stood up in the confrontation that had ensued. You were the aggressor throughout.

“During the course of that confrontation, I am sure that you punched Mark Robinson twice, and very hard, and that as a result of those punches he fell heavily to the floor, possibly striking a nearby radiator as he fell.”

Medical evidence revealed that Mr Robinson had suffered two fractures to his jaw, two fractures to bones in his spinal column and three broken ribs.

Jurors also heard how he suffered from osteoporosis and a number of other medical conditions including brain injuries from a previous assault.

Drunken violence

The judge added: “There is certain to have been such a commotion but its duration is difficult to assess. I cannot be sure that Mark Robinson was further assaulted by you during that commotion and after Johnny Gregory had come downstairs, and there is no evidence which I can accept to indicate that he might have been assaulted by anyone else.

“Immediately after the assault occurred Johnny saw you standing over Mark Robinson who was now curled up on the mattress. I am sure that you said something along the lines that he is not hard and not a kickboxer, but I do not believe that you told Johnny that you punched him just the once.”

The Northern Echo: Raymond WhincupRaymond Whincup (Image: Cleveland Police)

Mr Robinson’s mother, Gillian Harrison, had told the court how her son had slipped back into his unstable lifestyle and knew plenty of unsavoury characters.

She said: "He became terrified that if he was assaulted again, it would kill him. He said he knew some bad people and wanted to protect me from this."

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Family's dignity

Praising the family’s dignity throughout the court case, the judge added: “They have attended court daily throughout this trial and I have witnessed nothing other than their profound dignity in these very difficult circumstances and their respect for the process, manifest signs of the tribute they wish to pay to Mark.

“I have paid particular attention to the victim personal statements of Mark’s mother, Gillian Harrison, and his sisters Alanna Kyme and Clair Parkinson. These bring home to the court the personal tragedy that has befallen the family.”