Man jailed for life for murder

A man has been sentenced to life in prison following the murder of Nigel Mazs in Great Yarmouth.

Martin Montgomery, aged 31, of Malakoff Close, Great Yarmouth, appeared at Norwich Crown Court today, Tuesday 26 November, where he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years.

He had denied murder but had admitted to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

This was not accepted by the prosecution and following a nine-day trial he was found guilty of murder on Friday 22 November. The jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict.

The court heard his victim Nigel Mazs, aged 59, had been in the stairwell with friends outside Montgomery’s home smoking drugs at around 11am on 22 December 2023.

Montgomery shouted at them to leave, delivering a forceful kick to the face to Mr Mazs as he bent down to pick something up on his way out.

This caused him to fall backwards and hit his head on concrete causing a catastrophic brain injury. He died 13 days later in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

On the day of the attack Montgomery was found by police in a friend’s back garden burning his clothes on a barbecue. 

He was arrested for section 18 GBH with intent to cause serious harm and was later charged with murder after Mr Mazs died.

A Victim Impact Statement read to the court on behalf of his family told how he had faced personal struggles, but was a gentle person who hated to cause others pain.

He had sought solace in substances after a difficult start in life and was loved by his family who hailed his ‘cheeky sense of humour and sweet boyish grin.’

The statement said: “Apart from our grief and sadness that he is gone, we are each drowning in the pain caused by the violence and brutality that caused his death.

“He didn͛’t slip away peacefully in a hospice or quietly on his own terms, he was ripped from us because somebody saw him as just another drug user.

“You took our Nigel away from us and caused his last conscious moments to be pain and sadness, and you also took away the hope that one day he would be able to recover from his addictions and live a beautiful life free from his pain.

“We will always keep an eye on the weather and wonder if he is inside because our love for him will never stop.

“Our lives will never be the same, all of our Christmases will forever be a stark reminder that we spent those weeks in Addenbrooke’s praying for his life, holding his hands and talking to him in the slight hope that he could hear us.

“At times sleeping on the floor so that we could be there in case he had a moment of consciousness in order tell him how much he was loved and not wanting him to spend a moment alone.

“At the end staying with him knowing that his life support was gone, watching each unsteady breath counting down as his moments ran out, one by one.”

The family have asked us to pass on their thanks to prosecution counsel Will Carter, Judge Alice Robinson who presided over the case and police investigators for their role in bringing Montgomery to justice.

Following today’s sentencing senior investigating officer Det Insp Alix Wright said: “We hope the guilty verdict and today’s sentencing brings some level of closure to Nigel’s family.

“This was a despicable and totally unwarranted act of violence towards a man Montgomery did not know and was in no way being aggressive towards him.

“He has now been held accountable for his actions of murder.”