A 21-year-old man who was high on drink, drugs and solvents when he brutally stabbed a man to death over an alleged sexual assault in Portrush has been jailed for life.
Glen Allen was also told he will spend at least 14 and a half years in jail before even being considered for release.
Imposing the minimum life tariff at Antrim Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, Lord Justice Girvan said "nothing justified the frenzied attack" on William Meek in June 2008 which led to his death in "horrible circumstances".
"This was an appalling case perpetrated by an individual who lost control of himself, very probably because of self-induced intoxication and drug taking," said the judge adding that by setting fire to Mr Meek's Causeway Street flat, Allen had "seriously endangered the lives of others".
Earlier this year Allen, from Glenarm Avenue in Portrush, pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Meek, 35, in June 2008 and to wounding him with intent on 13 February 2008.
Prosecuting QC Richard Weir told the court that in February, Allen and Mr Meek met "by chance" and drank together in a disabled toilet on Portrush's east Strand.
According to Mr Meek, he was attacked "for no reason" as he walked away in the early hours of the morning, sustaining 14 stab wounds to his head and neck but defence SC Philip Magee told the court that Allen claimed he had awoken to find Mr Meek allegedly sexually interfering with him.
Mr Weir said Allen was released on bail over that attack but that four months later on 25 June, the pair again met "entirely by accident" on Causeway Street and Allen began "remonstrating" with Mr Meek over the alleged attack and the pair ended up drinking together in Mr Meek's flat.
Fire-fighters were called to the flat at around 6.15am and Mr Meek was dragged from it with his head and face covered in blood, said the lawyer, and he was pronounced dead at the scene an hour later.
The lawyer told the court the investigation revealed that Mr Meek had suffered 51 stab wounds to his head, face and neck but that a pathologist had opined that the most likely fatal wound had penetrated "almost the entire breadth" of his skull and brain.
The Fire Service found two seats of fire, one downstairs and one on the mattress upon which Mr Meeks was lying and the lawyer added that the pathologist found soot in Mr Meek's lungs, indicating that he was probably still alive when Allen set fire to his flat.
Allen was found about an hour later, lying "comatose" under a hedge in a garden in Dhu Varren Park South and was arrested for the murder which he denied during police interviews.
In jailing Allen for at least 14 and a half years, Lord Justice Girvan said it was clear that Mr Meek's death had caused "considerable pain and suffering" to his family.
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