DINNAL: MYSTERY STILL SURROUNDS MOTIVE FOR MURDER AS KNIFEMAN IS JAILED FOR LIFE

A killer who stabbed his best friend and neighbour to death in a horrific unprovoked attack was jailed for at least 20 years today (WED).

Trevor Dinnal, 43, burst into the home of father-of-two Malcolm Boxall, 43, in a drunken rage and plunged a kitchen knife into his neck.

Shocked witnesses ran to help the victim and tried to stem the flow of blood but he died within minutes just a few yards from his doorstep.

Dinnal was heard telling Mr Boxall: ‘You talk too much’ but later claimed in court that Mr Boxall had ‘touched up’ his girlfriend.

After Dinnal was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey, detectives said the true motive behind the attack remained unclear.

Sentencing him to life imprisonment, Judge Giles Forrester said: ‘What caused you to do this to your former friend still remains something of a mystery.

‘Whatever information it was that your girlfriend gave you, if any, could not possibly have given rise to such conduct in a reasonable and sober man.

‘At the end of the day you have taken the life of another man. I am satisfied that in your rage at that moment you intended to kill this man.

‘It must have been a terrifying ordeal for him and he died frightened and alone. It was shocking and disturbing for members of the public who observed the events.’

The judge said he would serve at least 20 years behind bars. Dinnal has already spent 351 days in custody.

In a statement to the court, Brian Boxall said his brother Malcolm, who had his own aviary in his back garden, was ‘well known in the area as a nice person.’

He added: ‘He was a very quiet man, enjoying his birds and going down the working men’s club for a drink.

‘Malcolm had a passion for animals and would spend hours looking after his birds.

‘Every day I wake up I miss him. It is all made harder when we have to consider that Malcolm died in such a violent manner.

‘Malcolm was not a perfect man and he hadn’t had a perfect life but he was my brother and friend.

‘I would like to add my thanks to all the people in the neighbourhood who came out and tried to help Malcolm after the attack.’

Mr Boxall had six brothers and two sisters and both Brian Boxall and brother Dennis Boxall were in court for the sentence.

The victim had up 50 birds, including ducks, geese and budgies.

After the sentencing, Dennis Boxall said: ‘Justice has been done today. Now we can put it behind us and get on with our lives but it is going to be heard. He is always going to be in my heart and the rest of the family.’

The Old Bailey heard Dinnal and Mr Boxall had been good friends and lived opposite each other in Dyson’s Road, Edmonton.

At around 7pm on July 26 last year Mr Boxall was chatting to two friends in his home at 72 Dyson’s Road, Edmonton.

Witnesses saw Dinnal march from his home on the opposite side of the road and smash the front window with an exhaust pipe.

He then kicked the front door in and barged into the house, followed by his girlfriend who was trying to restrain him.

Dinnal told Mr Boxall: ‘You have got too much of that’ and made a mouth gesture with his hand, the court heard.

After one of Mr Boxall’s friends intervened, Dinnal went into the kitchen, took a kitchen knife from a drawer and frogmarched Mr Boxall out of the house.

One neighbour, who was unloading shopping with her daughter, saw Dinnal holding a knife to the victim’s throat.

Dinnal was heard to say: ‘I’m going to juke you,’ using the slang for stab, before plunging the blade suddenly into his neck.

One woman described the blood flowing ‘like someone had turned a tap on.’

Other neighbours heard Dinnal say: ‘Don’t f*** with me, I don’t play that game.’

When one witness remonstrated with him, he replied, looking at the victim: ‘You should be dead. You talk too much.’

Mr Boxall managed to walk round to his next door neighbour’s house at number 74 but collapsed in the front garden while trying to stem the blood with a t shirt. He was pronounced dead at 9.13pm.

A post mortem found he had died from a single stab wound to the face and neck which cut the left external carotid artery. He also had superficial slash wounds to his chest.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson told jurors: ‘This was an unprovoked attack on an utterly defenceless man.

‘Something happened to make the defendant act in such a violent and callous way towards his friend.’

Dinnal was arrested at the scene and replied: ‘I’m not a monster, don’t treat me like one.’

At the police station he was heard saying: ‘I have murdered my mate. My mum will be in her 80s by the time I get out.

‘I’ll tell the judge I can’t remember anything, I have got another 40 years to live with this.’

During the trial Dinnal told jurors that he decided to confront Mr Boxall after his girlfriend claimed the victim had made a pass at her.

‘She said he had been sexually touching her up and asked her to leave me to go with him,’ he added.

‘He had been placing his hands on her private parts and bum and her breasts. I didn’t want to believe it.’

He denied using a knife and claimed he lashed out with a piece of scrap metal without intending to cause serious harm.

His thumbprint was found on a knife lying on the front patio.

Dinnal, of [16] Malham Terrace, Dyson’s Road, Edmonton, north London, denied murder.

ends