THE FATHER of murdered Caterham schoolboy Breck Bednar has told a court he feels "like someone has hit me over the head with a hammer".
In a victim statement read out to Chelmsford Crown Court today, Breck's father Barry said: "It feels like someone has hit me over the head with a hammer. I have lost my joy, my hope for the future. I'm a shell of a man, wracked with guilt. I cannot live with the thought that I did not protect him. If only we had known about the danger this guy [Lewis Daynes] presented we might have been able to prevent it."
Lewis Daynes who admitted the murder of Breck claimed two masked Middle Eastern gunmen had carried out the killing, a court heard this morning.
In a letter to a prison officer, Daynes, from Grays in Essex, claimed the assassins had forced the boys to perform a sex act together and then tied Breck up before fatally stabbing him in the neck.
However, Daynes rang police at 11.06am on February 17 last year to admit the murder, the court was reminded.
53 minutes earlier he sent three pictures of Breck's dead body to two online friends. As he was being arrested Daynes told police: "It was an accident. We got into a fight. I should have known better than to go for an artery on a friend."
Meanwhile, outlining forensic evidence, prosecutor Richard Whittam said: "There was a DNA profile matching that of Breck Bednar from blood and semen on a heavily blood stained T-shirt."
Mr Whittam added that a pair of boxer shorts recovered from the scene had semen from Daynes on them. DNA from duct tape found in a bin had been in direct contact with Breck, said Mr Whittam. Breck's arm hairs and leg hairs found on the tape suggested he had been tied up.
Mitigating, Simon Mayo said the defendant had been from a broken home. Daynes suffered from Asperger's syndrome and had spent spells in local authority care, the court heard.
14-year-old Breck, of Crescent Road, Caterham, a pupil at St Bede's school in Redhill, suffered a four inch wound to his neck, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
The court was told Daynes had groomed Breck ahead of that fateful first meeting, including claims that Breck would benefit from a multi-million pound Government computing contract.
Daynes admits murder but denies any "sexual or sadistic" motive as alleged by the prosecution.
It follows a dramatic about-turn in November, when Daynes, a computer engineer who was due to stand trial for the murder, changed his plea to guilty.
