A MAN has been jailed for life after he admitted bludgeoning a pensioner to death before hiding his body in a freezer then dumping it in a garage in Park North.

The body of Lloyd Samuels, 67, of Bristol, was discovered in a garage in Clevedon Close last June after a county-wide police investigation.

His long-term friend Paul Burrows, 48, of Banwell Avenue, Park North, pleaded guilty to Mr Samuels’s murder at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday and admitted stashing his body in his girlfriend’s garage.

Burrows clubbed his friend twice over the head on May 16 last year after the pair had a row over money and then tried to hide what he had done from both Mr Samuels’s family and police.

The Recorder of Bristol, Judge Neil Ford QC, jailed Burrows for life, ordering that he serve a minimum of 12 years in prison.

Michael Fitton QC, prosecuting, said on May 21 Mr Samuels, of Sydney Road, Hotwells, Bristol, was reported missing, and days later police searching a house in Easton house Burrows was in the process of buying, found blood on an armchair and on the wall behind it.

Mr Fitton said: “An airborne spray of blood suggested Mr Samuels was struck to the back right side of his head with a heavy object.

“There were two blows to the deceased which were relevant.”

Mr Fitton said that, on June 3, police found Mr Samuels’s body in a foetal position under piles of sheets and clothing in the Aprk North garage.

He had fractures to his skull and fifth vertebra and bruising.

One of Mr Samuels’s dreadlocks was later recovered from a freezer at the Easton house.

Mr Fitton said: “Burrows accepted responsibility for killing Mr Samuels.

“He said he moved the body at a later date. He directed police to the garage and the Renault Clio of the deceased.

“Thereafter he declined to answer questions in interview.”

Mr Fitton told the court it was agreed Mr Samuels was a regular seller of cannabis and spent a “great deal of time” at the Easton house, using the proceeds of cannabis dealing to pay towards Burrows’s mortgage.

Mr Fitton said Mr Samuels had a number of relationships in his life and his ex-wife Diane Byrne had gone on to live with Burrows for eight years.

Friends of the men were aware that Burrows was in significant debt and on May 16 last year Mr Samuels was seen in Swindon, looking for the defendant, and said to be “angry and complaining”. Having not found him he drove home and that afternoon Burrows travelled to Bristol by train.

Mr Fitton said in the early evening Christopher Monaghan and Matthew Wright visited Mr Samuels in Henrietta Street, Easton, and both noticed he was drowsy. Though a “therapeutic dose” of 10 milligrams of the drug temazepam was later found in his body, it is unexplained how it got there.

Mr Fitton told the court Burrows had admitted to friends in Swindon he had killed Mr Samuels.

Police found out Burrows had debts of £200,000. It was the Crown’s case that the men rowed over money, Burrows launched a non-premeditated assault with a chair leg before trying to cover his tracks.

Adam Vaitilingam QC, defending, said: “Paul Burrows became very close to Mr Samuels’s ex-family. He would like to say how truly sorry he is to them for the impact of what he’s done.”

Mr Vaitilingam stressed his client’s previous good character and the lack of premeditation.

He said: “He had no intention to kill. An intent to cause serious harm formed in a fraction of a second; to pick up a club and strike him twice in quick succession with it. He has said, repeatedly, he has no recollection of the incident.”

Sentencing Burrows, Judge Ford said he could not find evidence to a criminal standard that Burrows had administered the temazepam to Mr Samuels.

But he said: “You know that your actions have had a truly devastating effect on the friends and family of the deceased.”

Praising Burrows’s “courage” in pleading guilty to murder, Judge Ford handed him a 12-year sentence of life imprisonment with his 254 days spent in custody deducted.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Joe Goff said: “Obviously, the murder of Lloyd Samuels has been shocking and devastating for his family and our thoughts are with them today.

“The murder of Mr Samuels was a ruthless and wicked crime. We are pleased that Paul Burrows decided to admit his guilt and not subject the family to a long and contested trial, and we are satisfied with the sentence that has taken this man out of normal society.

“I would like to thank the Samuels family for their support, and to thank Wiltshire police for their help with this investigation that led to Burrows’s arrest.”