Male model Luke Harden, 36, died after being punched, kicked and stamped on in the street by Bhekisani Matabiswana who claimed to be Good Samaritan
A “remorseless killer” dressed as a clown after attending a Halloween party carried out a “frenzied and cowardly attack” on a male model before “trying to paint himself as the Good Samaritan”.
Luke Harden, 36, died after being punched, kicked and stamped on in the street, suffering catastrophic injuries to his head, face, and neck.
A court heard Bhekisani Matabiswana, 27, claimed he had found Luke collapsed and had tried to save his life by attempting first aid. But in court Matabiswana, originally from Zimbabwe, admitted he had lied to emergency services, accepting he had punched him around five times – although he denied kicking and stamping on him.
READ MORE: UK’s 12 most wanted criminals hiding out in Spain – including double killerREAD MORE: Woman guilty of killing ex-husband in Plymouth acid attack at his home
The trial also heard how Matabiswana, tried to flee the UK and was arrested at Manchester Airport two days after the attack. Matabiswana denied murder but was found guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court.
Police said Luke was one of the DJs booked for a Halloween fancy dress party at the Rosemount Working Men’s Club, in Bacup, Lancs, which Matabiswana had also coincidentally attended
The killer – dressed as a clown – left the venue shortly before midnight with his associates, while Luke left using a different exit.
CCTV footage captured the movements of both groups as they walked through various streets. Matabiswana’s group was ahead of Luke, who was walking alone.
The defendant and his then partner separated from the group and at 23.58 there was an interaction with Luke.
A short time later Luke was punched and then either kicked and/or stamped on by Matabiswana while he lay defenceless on the ground, police said. had no defensive wounds on his hands or arms, and there were no marks on his hands to suggest he was the aggressor.
Matabiswana was captured on CCTV just after midnight, and his female associate appeared to be tugging at him as if he was attempting to leave the scene. It was in the two-minute period before this that Luke was fatally assaulted.
Rather than attempt to administer first aid or ring for an ambulance, Matabiswana used Luke’s phone to call the victim’s friends at 12.03am to tell them he was on the floor. He also called Luke’s family and told them a similar thing.
Shortly after this saw Luke lying on the pavement and Matabiswana’s female associate was kneeling next to him with his head in her hands. Noticing that Matabiswana was on the phone, he asked the defendant numerous times if he had called for an ambulance but received no reply.
The member of the public then called an ambulance and administered first aid to an unresponsive Luke, along with Matabiswana’s ex-partner.
Paramedics arrived just after 12.20am and provided first aid. They noted he had injuries to his face which were consistent with being the victim of an assault.
However, Matabiswana lied to the paramedics, claiming that he had seen Luke fall, stating that Luke had struggled to breathe after falling and that he had put him into the recovery position.
At 12.35am police officers on patrol in the area came across paramedics tending to Luke. Matabiswana told officers that he had been walking from the working men’s club when he came across Luke lying on the floor. He falsely claimed to have used Luke’s phone to call for an ambulance and to have telephoned Rawtenstall A&E.
Whilst the woman was talking to the police, the defendant was captured on the officer’s body worn video camera talking to himself, and he was heard to say: “We shouldn’t have done this.”
Following this, Luke was pronounced deceased at the scene at 1.17am.
Matabiswana and his partner were arrested on suspicion of Luke’s murder shortly before 2am and they were taken into custody. It was noted that Matabiswana had grazing on his left-hand knuckles and swelling around the ring finger of his right hand which caused him pain when touched.
He later claimed these injuries were old and did not cause him any pain.
After being released under investigation Matabiswana was tracked by authorities and arrested at Manchester Airport trying to board a flight to South Africa.
In his subsequent police interview, Matabiswana accepted that he had struck Luke but claimed it was in self-defence as he had been punched first. He denied using his feet to assault Luke.
Following his arrest, Matabiswana’s mobile phone was seized and examined by experts. In text messages recovered from Matabiswana’s phone, he gave another conflicting account about the circumstances which led to the altercation with Luke to the two he had given to the police.
He also sent numerous messages about how he intended to flee the country, and that he needed money and a third-party email address to book a flight.
Det Insp Pete MacDonald, said: “Following a brief encounter with his victim, Matabiswana engaged in a frenzied and cowardly attack – continuing to attack Luke whilst he lay defenceless on the floor.
“He then made no effort to help Luke, instead choosing to contact his family and friends in a sordid and sinister bid to paint himself as the Good Samaritan who had simply come across an injured man on the pavement.
“He continued these callous lies to Luke’s distressed friends and family, as their loved one lay dying on the ground yards away from them.
“Throughout this case. Matabiswana has shown no remorse, making several efforts to evade justice. Firstly, by attempting to leave the scene before police arrived – later being heard to say ‘we shouldn’t have done this’.
“And then secondly by booking a flight to Johannesburg. Thankfully he never made that flight. Thankfully a jury had today held Matabiswana accountable for his actions by finding him guilty of Luke’s murder. I would like to thank them for their considered verdicts.”
