THE family of Gloucester dad-of-two Paul Birch described his killer as "an evil liar".

Martin Hill was yesterday jailed for life – with a minimum 14 years – after being convicted of fatally punching and stamping on Mr Birch at the doorway of their bedsits.

Mr Birch's half brother, Robert Barber, of Gloucester, said: "I'm totally over the moon with the verdict. The last eight months have been really terrible for us as a family. The jury saw right through him.

"They saw him for what he is; evil and a liar. He's nothing but a murderer in my eyes."

The jury heard Mr Birch suffered a fatal beating from his neighbour after they rowed over a £20 bicycle.

Bristol Crown Court heard Hill sold the bike to Mr Birch, who then had it taken from him in the street. He asked Hill for a refund as it had been stolen and reclaimed by the owner.

When Hill later admitted Mr Birch to flats they occupied at Alfred Street, Weston-super-Mare, he punched him to the floor and stamped on his head so hard it "bounced".

Mr Birch, an alcoholic suffering from Hepatitis C and jaundice who had moved to the seaside to mend his ways, suffered a fractured skull and blood clot on the brain and died in Frenchay Hospital three days later, after initially refusing treatment. The jury was told during the trial: "He had been brought to the floor, kicked to the body and his head was stamped on or kicked, so as to fracture his skull and injuries to his brain that caused his death."

Hill, 37, who denied murder, told police Mr Birch fell and struck his head on a hall shelf.

A jury of nine men and three women found him unanimously guilty of murder after eight hours 53 minutes. Imposing the life term,

The Honourable Mr Justice Keith said he hoped the conviction would bring a measure of closure to Mr Birch's family, who respectfully observed proceedings from the public gallery.

He said Hill would serve 14 years, minus 242 days served on remand, before he was eligible for parole.

BACKGROUND:

PAUL Birch had gone to Weston-super-Mare to try to tackle a drink problem.

Instead, his drinking continued and a brutal assault from a fed-up neighbour cost him his life.

This is the opinion of Mr Birch's half-brother Robert Barber.

Mr Barber, 21, a carer from Redwell Road, Gloucester, said: "Paul could be placid when he had a drink. But he could have a nasty, argumentative side. Paul would get up at 5am and play his music without any consideration for anybody, which wasn't helped when he had a drink.

"Martin Hill was fed up with him, with always being woken up at 5am. In the end he just flipped."

Mr Barber said he and Paul shared the same mother, but Paul was born five years earlier and they lived in Coney Hill, Gloucester.

Paul attended boarding school in Stroud, followed by Fairford.

It was when Paul returned to the city his life went off the tracks.

Mr Barber said: "I think he got in with the wrong crowd. He was 13 when he started drinking. I think it was being at boarding school that did it because he felt it was cool to join in. "I was close to him. It was a typical brother relationship; all was well one minute and we would be scrapping the next.

"He would be making friends and kind when sober and he could be placid. He did dabble in drugs as well, all the drugs you could think of. There is no drug you could name that he hasn't done."

Mr Barber said Paul had worked at Stephens Electrics in Gloucester, as well as a washing machine repair shop. He also had two children by two different women.

It was in April last year that he moved to the seaside.

Mr Barber said: "Me and my mum tried to get him to come home.

"One minute he said he would come back, the next he said he wasn't coming back. In the end there was nothing more we could do."

Mr Barber was aware his half-brother bought a bike from Hill for £20, which turned out to be stolen and was reclaimed by the owner. He said Paul asked for his money back, and Hill refunded it.

Another cause of friction was Paul arguing with his half-sister Kerry, who was living with Hill.

Mr Barber said: "They argued like cat and dog and Martin didn't want Paul to keep having a go at Kerry.

"In the end he just flipped and gave Paul a beating. I've seen Paul take numerous beatings and he always got back up and walked away. For Paul to be damaged in the way he was damaged, Martin must have stamped on him more than once."

Mr Barber said Hill looked uncomfortable when he gave evidence.

"If my brother ran at him 'like a raging bull', like he told the jury, why didn't he say that in interview?

"I've always thought he was a wrong 'un. You don't judge a book by its cover, you've got to give everyone a chance. A couple of weeks before the murder he was in court for beating up my sister Kerry. I knew from that he was a violent man."