Killer twins jailed after love rival attack (From Western Telegraph)

Killer twins jailed after love rival attack

VICIOUS twins Michael and Steven Hampton have been jailed far three-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of Raymond Brunt in his home at St Dogmaels.

The pair beat 62-year-old Raymond Brunt and as a result clots were released into his blood stream.

These clots cut off blood circulation and he suffered tissue death from the feet upwards.

Surgeons amputated more and more of his body in a desperate bid to keep him alive, but eventually had to give up and allow him to die with dignity.

The Hamptons, 47, were angry because he had made a pass at Michael Hamptons girlfriend, Janet Parton.

Michael Hampton was overheard telling his brother: We have got to sort this out, before the pair set off for Mr Brunts home in Riverhill Cottages at 2.30 am on October 8th.

After pushing their way in the men punched their victim so hard he was paralysed.

The men were cleared of murder by a jury at Swansea Crown Court but were convicted of manslaughter.

The Judge, Mr Justice McKinnon, said he accepted they had not intended to cause the death of Mr Brunt, an electrical engineer.

But they were angry and in drink when they set off to confront him.

The court heard that Michael Hampton and Miss Parton had moved to St Dogmaels from Shropshire a few months before the incident to make a fresh start.

They became regulars at the White Hart pub where they met Mr Brunt.

The couple split up for a while and Miss Parton began going out with Mr Brunt. She was eventually reconciled with Michael Hampton but the two men continued to argue whenever they met.

On October 7th he bought flowers and a bottle of champagne to celebrate their reunion. But that evening, in the White Hart, Mr Brunt approached Miss Parton and whispered into her ear while Hampton was at the bar.

Hampton decided to confront Mr Brunt and recruited his brother for the short walk from Amblestone House, where he was staying with Miss Parton, to Riverhill Cottages.

The judge said he accepted Steven Hampton was reluctant to go with him, but did so out of loyalty.

Nevertheless, the following morning it was Steven Hampton with a split knuckle and not Michael.

The judge added: Precisely what your intentions were will probably never be known. You both accept it was stupid to go to his home in the early hours while angry and in drink.

It is impossible to say how many times the two of you punched him. It is not quite right to say you gave him a thoroughly good beating, but you got the better of him.

It is clear you caused the deceased a number of injuries, but I accept his death came about through an unfortunate chain of events, he added.

Mr Justice McKinnon said it was a joint enterprise in every sense.

He said Steven Hampton had pretended not to remember what had happened and Michael Hampton gave an account of the struggle only after learning the details of Mr Brunts injuries.

Lovers link with death

It was the second time Raymond Brunts love life had led to death. In 1995 he turned his attentions to Jennifer Day and persuaded her to leave her husband Robin for him.

Robin Day took it badly and when she refused to return to him he deliberately crashed their car.

Mrs Day died from her injuries and just over a year later Robin Day was convicted of her murder and jailed for life.

Robin Day sobbed as he gave evidence to a jury at Swansea crown court - where five years later Mr Brunts killers would also cry as they told their stories.

Robin Day, a 49-year-old slaughterman from St Dogmaels, said he felt suicidal after his wife left him.

He managed to persuade her to get into his Fiat Punto by lying that their daughter was ill in hospital - and that they must visit her.

During the journey he tried to persuade Mrs Day to come back to him. But, he claimed, she said there was nothing he could do or say which would make her return.

Day told the court: I felt that there was nothing more I could do. I was in such total despair that I left the road.

Forty-four-year-old Mrs Day died in hospital three days after the collision with a milk churn stand on the B4342 at Woodstock.

Her husband was still in a wheelchair because of the injuries he suffered when the trial took place more than a year later.

Five years later Raymond Brunt again turned his attentions to another woman, and this also led to death - this time his own.

PICTURED Raymond Brunt.