Stephen Castle found guilty of murdering Tunbridge Wells grandfather Wayne Woodgate

KentOnline / KMTV

A builder who was captured on camera cold-heartedly joking with police about the whereabouts of a 'missing' grandfather he had strangled to death just hours earlier has today (May 28) been convicted of murder.  Gabriel Morris reports

Transcript

00:00I think he was a man who, as I said, is larger than life, was a socialite.

00:09He was the man who kept us together, and when we weren't together, he brought us together.

00:14CCTV footage showed victim and killer crossing paths in Tunbridge Wells just hours before the murder.

00:22Both men knew each other.

00:24Stephen Castle later told police he blamed Wayne Woodgate for tipping off officers in 2015.

00:31A raid on his home uncovered firearms in the loft, landing him a prison sentence.

00:36Nine years on, Castle spotted Mr Woodgate in town.

00:40That sighting triggering a rage, the court was told.

00:43Jurors heard how Castle launched into an abusive confrontation,

00:48then took Mr Woodgate back to his home in Matfield, where he murdered him.

00:52He dumped the 54-year-old's body in undergrowth in East Sussex,

00:57then went to a local pub with a workmate.

01:00We're going to be arresting you today, so I'm suspicious of a kidnap.

01:05Police arrested Castle later that day.

01:08He denied knowing anything about Mr Woodgate's disappearance.

01:12Where is Wayne now?

01:15I don't know where Wayne is.

01:16Okay. Is he safe?

01:18No, no, no, no. He was where we left him.

01:22He's under my bed, in my flat.

01:25Sorry?

01:26He's under my bed, in my flat.

01:27Who is?

01:28Wayne, in Seacab's.

01:30I hope he's met.

01:31Okay.

01:31But after his release on bail, Castle borrowed a friend's car,

01:35returning to the scene where the victim was dumped.

01:38He tried to hide evidence, but officers rearrested him on the 22nd of October

01:42on suspicion of murder, omitting manslaughter but denying murder,

01:47claiming he didn't mean to kill or cause serious harm.

01:51Today, the jury unanimously found Castle guilty of murder.

01:54Evil is in the streets, and you never know when it creeps up.

02:00Our children's innocence has been taken away.

02:05They have to grow up with the knowledge that their grandfather was killed in the most horrific way.

02:11And we have to deal with that.

02:12We have to learn how to navigate that.

02:14We are learning as parents, and it's not clear to us at this stage,

02:18how to approach that.

02:19He now faces life behind bars.

02:23He'll be sentenced on the 26th of June,

02:26where Judge Julian Smith will set the minimum term before parole can be considered.

02:31Gabriel Morris for KNTV in Maidstone.

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