Black Country murder victim's injuries among worst seen by detectives
The injuries suffered by a father-of-five at the hands of his killers were among the worst ever seen by the detectives who tracked down those responsible.
Father-of five Carl Woodall described as a "hermit" and a "rough diamond" with an infectious laugh, led a quiet and unassuming life at his caravan compound at in an industrial estate where he ran a garage.
But his battered body was discovered by his son Ryan, 22, and his girlfriend when they called at the unit at the Waterside Industrial Estate off Doulton Road, in Rowley Regis, on the afternoon of June 28 last year.
The 44-year-old had been stripped and left with more than140 separate injuries. Mr Woodall, known as Bert, had been so badly beaten by his attackers, he was unrecognisable.
Detective Inspector Hannah Whitehouse, of West Midlands Police Homocide Unit said it was still unknown why the mechanic life's was so brutally taken.
The three defendants Mark Campbell, 40, Simmion Goldbourne, and James McGee both 28, and all from Nottingham, all denied joint enterprise murder with Campbell and Goldbourne blaming each other for the horrific crime during the trial.
They travelled to the Black Country to burgle Mr Woodall's unit for money and drugs which Campbell believed was being squirrelled away there due to his links with his victim's stepsons Cieran and Joshua Evans.
The brothers met Campbell in Birmingham Prison four years ago where they were serving prison sentences. Cieran and the defendant remained friends with the older man occasionally visiting Rowley Regis to see him.
Campbell had briefly stayed with Cieran Evans in June last year and had visited Mr Woodall's workshop about four days before he was murdered.
Det Insp Whitehouse said: "The level of violence used against a human being. He was almost unrecognisable as a human due to the the number of injuries. And, in fact, the cause of death is given by the pathologist as multiple injuries because there are so numerous it's difficult to say specifically which one of them caused his death, but it was I've never seen anything like that.
"It was horrific. And very sadly, the pathology evidence shows that he would have been alive where at least where those injuries were inflicted.
"We established from CCTV initially that a Nissan Qashqai came into the estate round about 1.15am and from that vehicle, three figures emerge, and after a bit of tooing and froing, two of those figures who are seemingly Goldbourne and Mark Campbell, are able to gain access to the part of their trading estate that Carl Woodall was responsible for. "He had a lockup and a small static caravan in front of that and an area of the yard that was all fenced off.
"They were able to gain access. The third defendant, whose name is James McGhee remained outside with the vehicle. We believe that they went there, intending to use violence against Carl Woodall knowing that he lived in that caravan just outside that lockup.
"Having established that, that Nissan had gone to that unit. That's what led us to identify the defendants.
"We tracked that vehicle on the basis of establishing the registration number, and that it came from Nottingham. All three of the defendants are from Nottingham. It was insured to James McGhee, who was the driver. That vehicle left from his house and he picked up the other two defendants and came down to the West Midlands.
"Working to the defendants' phones we were able to establish a link between them and were able to work out who they were from this link with this vehicle. They were all arrested and interviewed and gave "no comment" interviews.
"Simmion Goldbourne and James McGee provided prepared statements, but did not give us any account of what happened on that night.
"They've all given evidence and they have had a lot to say about what they personally have done and also what their co-defendants have done. James McGhee - didn't go into the unit and the prosecution case is that seemingly Goldbourne and Mark Campbell did, and therefore that they've inflicted these injuries on Mr Woodall ultimately causing his death."
For murder Campbell, 40, and Goldbourne, 28, were jailed for life with minimum terms of 36 years, while McGhee, also 28, was jailed for 15 years for manslaughter to serve at least two-thirds.
