Jail for killer of man who died following ‘heavy’ punch attack in Middlesbrough

Trenton Marlowe, of Overdale Road, admitted to repeatedly slapping Darren Saunders across both sides of his face before delivering a punch to his ribs that ultimately led to his death.

At the time, the unprovoked attack caused the 52-year-old, of Romney Street, to scream out in pain and unable to move from the property he later died in, on Essex Street in Middlesbrough.

On Friday 11 October Marlowe, aged 25, was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court to serve nine  years and 11 months in prison and five years’ on an extended licence after pleading guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

The court heard Marlowe visited the property on the morning of Monday 22 January 2024 and was heard shouting ‘stop lying about it’ at Darren shortly before the assault began.

Darren remained seated on the sofa throughout the attack with witnesses telling police that he never fought back and told Marlowe ‘I’m not lying’.

After the attack, Marlowe left the property that was frequently being used by drug users to smoke crack cocaine.

For the rest of the morning, Darren struggled to walk, was sick and complained of being in pain. He remained on the sofa appearing to be asleep while people continued to come and go from the property.

When a friend of Darren’s discovered he had passed away, his brother was notified and visited the property before contacting police and ambulance.

Officers attended to the scene to find Darren on the floor of the living room.

A post-mortem uncovered the extent of Darren’s injuries and found his cause of death was a rupture to his spleen that led to large internal bleeding.

An investigation was launched by Cleveland Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET) and after speaking to numerous witnesses, Marlowe was named as the attacker and a man hunt commenced to detain him.

Marlowe was arrested at a property on Langsett Avenue in Park End, Middlesbrough on the morning of Wednesday 31 January 2024. After being questioned by officers he was subsequently charged.

Detective Inspector Matt Hollingsworth, from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “Darren’s life was taken away purely at the hands of Marlowe.

“While we may never know why he chose to act so violently, we do know his actions have caused such a devastating loss to Darren’s family and friends.

“To help them come to terms with losing Darren we have been able to put behind bars the man responsible for taking away his life and at the same time spare them from having to sit through a trial.

“Our thoughts continue to be with Darren’s mother Rita and all of his family during what has and continues to be a difficult time.”

Following the sentencing Darren’s mother paid tribute to him, Rita Saunders said: “The day I heard Darren had died my whole world fell apart.

“I miss him dreadfully, long to see his cheeky smile and it is very difficult to get through each day without him in my life.

“I do hope the person who took my son’s life away, from me and my family, realise the devastation and despair they have caused to us.

“Our lives will never be the same again.”