Pensioner found guilty of sitting on and beating neighbour to death over noise row

A pensioner has been found guilty of murdering his next door neighbour after a fight broke out over a noise dispute on Christmas Day.

James Hughes, 67, sat on top of neighbour Harold Turner, 68, stopping him from breathing, and beat him repeatedly with his walking stick.

The crown court in Caernarfon heard Hughes was wearing a Dictaphone at the time to help him with his memory problems, which recorded his neighbour's dying words at their sheltered accommodation in St Asaph, Denbighshire.

The jury in the murder trial returned a guilty verdict on Friday, and Hughes will be sentenced at a later date.

The court heard the confrontation on 25 December 2025 occurred because Turner made complaints about noise from Hughes's property.

There was a subsequent confrontation outside Hughes's flat, during which he ended up sitting on his neighbour.

The court was told that Hughes often carried a voice recorder on a lanyard round his neck, which he used to record conversations after suffering memory problems.

The jury heard a recording made by Hughes, in which Turner was heard saying "get off me" and "I can't breathe", to which Hughes replied "what a shame", and "you can die for all I care".

After the incident, Hughes went back into his flat, turned on the radio and made himself a hot drink.

In a phone call to his nephew some time after the altercation which was caught on his Dictaphone, Hughes said: "I think I may have killed someone."

He added: "I was sitting on him, dying..."

Hughes described how Turner's head was "bleeding because I whacked it with my new walking stick".

Later in the conversation, Hughes told his nephew: "I just hope I haven't killed him or I'll cop a murder charge."

After the call, Hughes could be heard asking his dog where his walking stick was as he needed to wash it.

When Hughes eventually called for an ambulance, he told emergency call handlers that he thought Turner may have had a heart attack, and also that he had hit Turner with his walking stick before falling.

Attempts to resuscitate Turner were unsuccessful.

A post-mortem examination found Turner died as a result of asphyxia and had suffered blunt force trauma to his face and head.

At the time of his death Turner's family said he would be "sadly missed", adding: "Harry Turner was one of six siblings who, on leaving school had joined the Navy before working in London, Ireland, and his hometown of Rhyl."

North Wales Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following Turner's death.

The IOPC decided that an investigation was required but it should be carried out locally by North Wales Police.

It said: "We will maintain a level of oversight as they will need to share with us their investigation report, for review, if no conduct issues are identified by them."