UK Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Anti-Gay Hammer Attack

A man from the United Kingdom has been sentenced to jail for 14 years for beating his gay roommate with a hammer in May 2013, the BBC reports.

Joseph Williams, 21, attacked his roommate, Connor Huntley, 18, with a claw hammer while he was asleep in their apartment in Margate, Kent, England.

Huntley survived the attack and the life threatening injuries but was treated for a depressed skull fracture and traumatic brain injury. He was left with brain damage.

According to prosecutors, Huntley suffered at least two blunt blows to the head. After the attack, Williams called for police and told authorities he thought he killed his roommate. Huntley was sent to the hospital after officers found him on a blood-splattered inflatable mattress.

Prosecuting attorney Philip Bennetts QC told the Old Bailey court the men were "not the obvious flatmates" as they had been paired up by their landlord and didn't know each other before living together. He also said Williams told a neighbor, a friend of Huntley, that he wasn't sure if he could continue to live with him because he would end up hitting Huntley.

When he was interviewed by police, Williams did not give a reason why he attacked his roommate.

Williams denied the charges of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent but will be detained in a secure hospital under the U.K.'s Mental Health Act.

"It is only due to the skills of medical staff that Connor is alive today," Detective Inspector Richard Vickery told the BBC. "Connor has suffered life-changing injuries and I hope that today's verdict will assist him and his family to move forward and concentrate on improving his quality of life, both physically and psychologically."

According to Pink News, Williams was from a Catholic background and had made anti-gay comments. Huntley, who was out, also often cross-dressed.

Bennetts told the Evening Standard Williams' "views on homosexuality and Mr. Huntley's appearance and sexual orientation" sparked the attack.

"Williams attacked Mr. Huntley with a hammer as he slept," he added. "There were at least two blows with the hammer and the hammer remained embedded in Mr Huntley's skull. To hit someone more than once with a hammer in their sleep hard enough for the hammer to be embedded in their head clearly demonstrates an intention to kill them."

In a statement, Huntley's family said: "Whilst Connor is making slow but steady progress from this horrific ordeal, we feel he has been handed his own life sentence by this hideous act. No one deserves to be so viciously attacked in such an evil manner, regardless of race, age, gender or sexuality."