Weston claw hammer murderer jailed for life
A man has been jailed for life after he beat a fellow tenant to death with a claw hammer.
Andrew Mealing, 26, met his victim, 62-year-old John Hughes, when they both had bedsits at Cadogan House, in Weston-super-Mare.
Bristol Crown Court heard he killed Mr Hughes within three days of meeting him.
Mealing, who had denied murder and robbery, was convicted after a trial and must serve a minimum of 22 years.
Mr Hughes was found dead by his landlord Paul Routledge at the bedsits in St Margaret's Terrace on 20 April.
Avon and Somerset Police said that Mealing, formerly of Bristol, had also robbed Mr Hughes of £110 and his mobile phone.
The Recorder of Bristol Judge Neil Ford QC also sentenced Mealing to eight years in prison for the robbery, to run concurrently.
In a statement released after the sentencing, the police said: "He had met John Hughes by chance in the landlord's office.
"Mr Hughes was introduced to his new neighbour Andrew Mealing and agreed to show him how to operate the key pad entry system.
"Over the next two days Mealing befriended John Hughes and later attacked the 62-year-old with the claw hammer.
"This was the unfortunate case of a lonely, and private individual being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mealing has shown no remorse for his ferocious attack."