Body-in-the-bin murder victim 'let down by society' - family
May 21 2009 by Kat Keogh, Birmingham Mail
THE devastated family of a Birmingham teenager who was murdered by a drug dealer and his lover before his body was dumped in a recycling bin said their son had been “let down” by society.
Nathan Lyons, 17, was bludgeoned to death while acting as a minder for a Birmingham-based criminal gang.
Scott Hancox, 35, and Amanda Allden, 29, were sentenced at Worcester Crown Court yesterday for Nathan’s murder.
Hancox, of Fownhope Close, Redditch, was told he would serve at least 17 years in prison while Allden, of Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove, was given a minimum term of 15 years by Mr Justice Penry-Davey.
The pair were convicted following a three-week trial which heard how Nathan’s corpse was found at a waste collection depot in south-east London, after travelling more than 150 miles through the recycling system.
The pair are thought to have attacked their victim after he refused to hand over drugs on April 30 or May 1 last year.
Speaking on behalf of his family, Nathan’s aunt, Jacky Lyons, said: “Nathan was one of 11 children and because of other people’s greed and addiction to Class A drugs, our Nathan was brutally murdered.
“His death has devastated our family and our lives will never be the same again. We cannot find the words to express the pain we feel. In his short life he brought so much joy to everyone who knew him and he will never be forgotten.
“The education system, social services and society in general let him down, like so many children before him.
“Children between the ages of 16 to 18 are what we call the forgotten children. They are the most vulnerable ones, easy prey for the dark side of society to use and abuse.”
Nathan was murdered at Hancox’s top-floor flat, where heroin and crack cocaine were sold through the letterbox, the jury was told during the trial.
Detectives used fingerprint records to identify Nathan, who had been sent to Redditch to guard drugs supplied to Hancox by the Birmingham gang.
Allden and Hancox had blamed each other for carrying out the killing.
