Two prison inmates who strangled a convicted child-killer in his cell at a maximum security prison will be sentenced today.
Gary Smith and Lee Newell were both already serving life sentences for murder when they tied up and throttled Subhan Anwar earlier this year.
Smith, 48, and Newell, 44, were convicted of murdering Anwar by a jury last week following a two-week trial at Warwick Crown Court.
Jurors heard how Smith calmly made Newell a cup of hot chocolate during a stand-off with prison staff after Anwar, 24, was strangled with his own tracksuit bottoms.
The killers also stole personal items, including prayer beads, a watch and an earring, after choking Anwar to death inside his cell at HMP Long Lartin in south Worcestershire on February 14.
Anwar, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was also serving a life term for murder, having been convicted of killing his partner’s two-year-old daughter in 2008.
Newell, originally from Norwich, was jailed at the city’s Crown Court in 1989 for murdering his neighbour, 56-year-old Mary Neal.
Mrs Neal, who was also strangled, was found dead at her home in March 1988 after Newell had fled to Jersey.
Smith, then of Anchor Street, Belgrave, Leicester, was jailed in 1999 for murdering 22-year-old Ali Hassan, whose naked body was thrown into a quarry at Swithland Woods, Leicestershire.
Smith chose to remain in the cells at Nottingham Crown Court in April 1999 as he was ordered to serve at least 18 years for Mr Hassan’s murder.
The victim, who Smith believed to be a police informer, was stabbed and struck about the head with a hammer in a “brutal and premeditated” attack.
Both men will be sentenced for Anwar’s murder by Mr Justice Baker this morning.