How drug paranoia led to the murder of a 93-year-old friend

A "cruel and calculating" cannabis user has been jailed for life after torturing his 93-year-old friend for more than 24 hours.

Samuel Field, 40, was found guilty of murdering Martin Glynn, who was visiting his flat in Northamptonshire in September 2024.

The "sustained attack" of punches, kicks, and strangulation brought an end to a friendship that had lasted almost two decades.

Prosecutors said the case revolved around paranoia, cannabis use and a fixation on a perceived betrayal that culminated in a day of fatal assaults.

The court heard Field first met Glynn in 2007 when they were neighbours in Kings Heath in Northampton and they formed a long-standing friendship.

Even after Field was imprisoned for a series of previous violent offences, Glynn maintained contact.

Following his release in 2021, Field moved to Desborough under licence conditions.

Glynn continued visiting him once or twice a week, making a two-and-a-half-hour journey involving three buses each way.

Prosecutor Adrian Langdale KC said Field's behaviour became increasingly unstable in the months leading up to the killing and he had become "increasingly threatening" towards his mother, brother, neighbours and landlord.

After the breakdown of a relationship, Field began using cannabis heavily, which prosecutors said contributed to an "aggressive, paranoid state towards those around him".

Field, formerly of Gold Street in Desborough, was still under licence conditions for violent offences at the time of the murder.

The court heard he had six previous convictions for seven offences, including assaulting a three-year-old girl who was the daughter of a former partner in 2007.

In 2008, he attacked a one-year-old boy in his cot, causing retinal injuries.

The judge, Stephen Eyre, said it was not entirely clear why those earlier offences were committed, but said they may have been linked to feelings of betrayal in previous relationships.

He told Field: "You knew that you were capable of being violent when you were angry."

The court also heard Field developed a pattern of dwelling on "actual or perceived wrongs or betrayals" and becoming increasingly paranoid.

The prosecution said he became fixated on the idea that Glynn had betrayed him by giving the house key that he had been entrusted with to other people.

The judge later said there was "no substance to that belief".

On 19 September 2024, Glynn arrived at Field's flat at 11:24 BST and was attacked "almost immediately" with a "powerful punch".

The court heard he was subjected to a "sustained assault" involving punches, kicks, stamping and strangulation.

The violence continued for about 29 hours.

Video evidence from a Blink camera in the property showed Glynn being repeatedly kicked and stamped on while he lay on the floor, the court heard.

Langdale said Field appeared to question Glynn during the assault, becoming more violent when he did not receive answers he wanted.

At times, Glynn was described as sounding "weak and scared" while being questioned about an imagined Irishman.

The court also heard allegations that Field attempted to remove or disable the Blink camera on 20 September, and used bleach in an effort to clean the scene.

Emergency services were eventually contacted later that day, with Field making what prosecutors described as a "rambling account" that initially prevented an ambulance being dispatched.

At about 21:00, he made further calls to the police and ambulance service. Officers later found Glynn "cold and semi-conscious in the shower".

He was taken to hospital on 21 September, but deteriorated and died from pneumonia on 26 December 2024.

During sentencing at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, the judge said Field had launched a "sustained attack".

"You punched him to the head and face, knocked him to the ground, repeatedly kicked or stomped on his head and throttled him with sufficient force to break his thyroid bone on both sides of his neck," the judge said.

"You knew he was at your mercy, but that did not stop you."

The judge said Field had convinced himself Glynn had betrayed him.

"I am satisfied you knew before you arrived what you intended to do," he said.

"That is shown by the fact your attack started on him the moment he arrived at your flat."

Speaking after the hearing, Det Sgt Megan Scotney from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: "Mr Glynn was a kind, gentle, loyal man, who was stripped of his independence by the cruel and calculated actions of Samuel Field.

"I hope today's sentence will offer some closure to what has been a very distressing and upsetting time for Mr Glynn's family."

Field was told he must serve at least 22 years in jail before being considered for release by the Probation Service.

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