A Pembrokeshire man who beat a frail neighbour ‘with a heart of gold’ to death has been jailed for 15 years.

Nathaniel Nuttall was found guilty of the manslaughter of his neighbour, Lee Thomas, at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, April 29. The jury of seven men and five women cleared him of a charge of murder.

Mr Thomas, aged 41, was rushed to hospital after being found with serious injuries by police at a house in Monkton on October 13, 2021. He spent almost four weeks in hospital but never regained consciousness and died on November 10.

On Friday, May 6, Nuttal, aged 32, of Tenby Court, Monkton, was sentenced by His Honour Judge Thomas QC to 15 years in prison.

“You delivered a sustained beating on him,” said Judge Thomas.

“Lee Thomas was not a well man. “He had various and serious health conditions. He used a stick due to mobility problems.

"You knew, I suspect better than anyone that Lee Thomas was no physical match for you.”

“By your own account you punched him three times then he fell to the floor. He was very probably unconscious and certainly unable to defend himself.

“As he lay defenceless on the ground you did not leave the matter there. You then decided to stamp on his head for or five times. You were wearing thick, heavy soled boots.

“Even then you were not content with what you had done because you kicked him in the face.”

The judge said that he ‘wholly rejected’ Nuttall’s claim that Mr Thomas attacked him on the night in question and added that he did not accept an alleged event in Monkton Court, days before the incident, was mitigation for inflicting such injuries.

The court heard that Nuttall had 13 previous convictions for 24 offences between 2003 and 2018 including actual bodily harm, public order, assaulting a police officer and battery.

In a victim impact statement Lee Thomas’ brother, Mr Andrew Thomas, said: “Lee had a heart of gold. He wanted to help and was always generous with what he had.

“He was the only person to become friends with Nathaniel Nuttall when he moved to the area. He would feed him and help him out.

“Lee liked to see the good in people. Unfortunately, his kindness to Nathaniel ended with him being beaten so badly he lost his life.

“Lee did not deserve what happened. The injuries from what happened were horrific. To think Nathaniel did this to his only friend.

“We hope that as a family we can come to terms with what happened one day.”

Nuttall will serve ten years of his sentence before being released on licence for the final five years.