A man who was accused of holding a vulnerable victim in servitude before he was condemned to an agonising death was facing a life sentence today for his murder.
Michael Joyce, 33, attacked Michael White at the home he shared in a Highland village with his partner, mother-of-four Antonia Gunn, after exploiting the frail victim.
Mr White, 61, was at their address in Plock Road, Kyle of Lochalsh, when he sustained fractured ribs and internal injuries during a fatal assault.
Gunn and Joyce denied murdering him by repeatedly striking him and inflicting blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body on April 22 or 23 last year. Joyce was convicted of the murder and his partner Gunn was acquitted of the charge on a unanimous not proven verdict.
Both had been freed on bail at the time after an earlier court hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court in January last year.
The court heard that prior to his death Department of Work and Pensions benefit payments into Mr White’s bank account saw money then being regularly transferred into the account of Joyce. Other sums of money were withdrawn through cash points.
Mr White had also contacted friends and acquaintances seeking financial help.
Mr Prentice said there had been “a degree of control over the affairs of Mr White” with his income being redirected to the accused.
Following Mr White’s death a post mortem was carried out by a single pathologist, but the autopsy was halted because of concerns over what was seen after a significant amount of blood was found in his abdomen.
Two forensic pathologists then conducted a post mortem and concluded that the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma of the trunk and heart disease.
They found that he had sustained three fresh fractures to his ribs along with signs of older rib fractures. He also suffered internal injuries including tears to his bowel and liver. He was emaciated and very, very thin.
Peritonitis had also set in which the court heard was an extremely painful experience as it develops.
The trial judge, Lady Poole, told Joyce: “You have been convicted by the jury of murdering a 61-year-old man. The court also heard about your conduct towards him prior to his death.”
She told Joyce his behaviour was “despicable” and added: “Michael White’s past association with you is a tragedy for him and his family.”
The judge told Joyce that there was only one sentence for murder, life imprisonment but she continued sentence for the preparation of a background report as she will have to set a minimum term – known as a punishment part – that Joyce will have to serve before he can seek to apply for parole.
Lady Poole told jurors that it had been “a serious, distressing and unpleasant case”.
After the verdict the jury heard that Joyce has previous convictions,
including for crimes of violence and dishonesty.
During the trial advocate depute Alex Prentice KC told the High Court in Edinburgh: “Michael White, formerly of the Old Bank House, Kyle of Lochalsh, died an agonising death on the weekend of April 22 2023 within 4 Plock Road, the then home of Antonia Gunn and Michael Joyce.”
The prosecutor said: “They were both present in the house during the events that led to his death and they both took steps to conceal what happened.”
“The evidence suggests he suffered significant blunt force trauma to the abdomen and that blunt force trauma caused his death,” he said.
Mr White’s son, Joshua White, 25, told the court that his father and mother moved to Kyle of Lochalsh from England to run a bed and breakfast business from the Old Bank House when he was aged seven.
His mother Sally later died. He said his father lost his wife and his business partner. He was asked if his father was able to cope and said: “It was hard.”
He later moved to England but kept in touch with his father, who suffered a stroke in 2021, and had visited him.
He said that after he learnt of his father’s death he called Gunn and Joyce before travelling to Kyle of Lochalsh. He said Gunn told him she had come downstairs, found his father and shouted for Joyce. Joyce told him that prior to his death his father was “over the moon” after he won money on a bet.
Mr White told the court: “Michael Joyce said to me that he was the next of kin, that my dad had signed it over but obviously you are his son and that won’t be happening.”
He said he was surprised when Joyce told him he had been nominated as next of kin, although he was not going to take it up.
He said he travelled to Kyle of Lochalsh with his half brother Adam Gordon and others and went to the Old Bank House. He said: “It was a shock, overwhelming for all of us. The state of the house.”
Mr Gordon, 38, said of the guest house: “It looked like a war zone……It was destroyed. One or two of the rooms may have been habitable but the rest were not.”
Mr Prentice asked him how Mr White senior had coped with the earlier loss of his mother. Mr Gordon replied: “He didn’t cope well but he didn’t completely fall apart. He loved my mum very much. She loved him.”
The court heard that prior to his death Mr White seemed to do almost everything for Gunn and Joyce. Neighbour Ruchele Cullen, 52, said: “He would drive for them. He was going to the shops for them. It seemed he would do almost everything for them.”
She said she had known Mr White for some time, but before his death his appearance changed. “I thought he had cancer. He seemed to have lost a lot of weight quickly,” she said.
During the trial jurors were shown distressing video footage shot by Gunn featuring the half naked, emaciated body of Mr White slumped in a shower.
Gunn told the court that Joyce assaulted Mr White and she saw him punch the older man in the stomach with two separate blows involving “a strong amount of force”. She said: “The two of them were arguing about Michael Joyce’s sister.”
She said the punching she witnessed was not an end to the violence directed towards Mr White and she later heard him making noises as if he was in pain from a bedroom while she was in the living room.
She said: “I had no idea how bad this was. This has happened before and he was okay.”
She said she did not agree with what was happening but could not phone anyone as it could cause repercussions for her. She said she had previously sustained black eyes and bruises during abuse from Joyce.
Her senior counsel Tony Lenehan KC asked her why she tolerated that behaviour and she replied: “I loved him.”
She said a statement she gave to police of discovering Mr White and immediately calling an ambulance was not true.
Mr Lenehan said the court had heard that when Mr White received benefit payments they were transferred “pretty quickly” out of his account or withdrawn in cash.
Benefit claimant Gunn said: “I know it looks bad.” But she added that when money came into her account Joyce looked after it. She said: “It’s not a big deal as I saw it.”
Gunn said she began a relationship with Joyce when she was 17 and went on to have four children with him, with the youngest born after she was remanded in custody awaiting trial for the murder. Joyce did not give evidence in his own defence.
The pair had originally faced further charges. The Crown accused them of holding Mr White in servitude between May 2021 and April last year alleging that they instructed him to transfer his money to them, to pay for food shopping and drive them to appointments and to request money from family and friends for their benefit.
It was also alleged that they instructed him to enter legal proceedings for the sale of the Old Bank guest house in the charge brought under human trafficking and exploitation legislation.
They were also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of cushions, towels and a T-shirt worn by Mr White, deleting photographs, placing a marriage certificate and photos of Mr White and his late wife around his body and pretending they found the body and he had committed suicide.
The Crown withdrew those charges during the trial and the judge formally acquitted the pair of those alleged offences.
Joyce will be sentenced on December 5, 2024 at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Detective Inspector Richard Baird, of Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “Michael Joyce’s actions towards Michael White were utterly abhorrent.
“Initially following his death he attempted to present himself as a friend of Mr White, and it was only after a post mortem that it became apparent he had in fact died as a result of injuries he had inflicted.
“We welcome this conviction and, while this cannot change what happened, Joyce will now face the consequences of his actions.”
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