Teenage duo convicted of killing homeless man beat him to death because it was 'funny'

Two men have been found guilty of beating a homeless man to death with weapons including a machete in what police called an “utterly senseless” and “unprovoked” attack.

Charlie White and Alex Macdonald, both 19, were found guilty of the murder of 21-year-old Razvan Sirbu, whose body was found by dog walkers in woodland near a tent where he had been living in Tovil, Maidstone, on May 7, 2017.

He had suffered multiple injuries after being subjected to a sustained and unprovoked assault with weapons including a machete, police said. The tent was also slashed in several places.

Kent Police said White, formerly of Quarry Road, Maidstone, and Macdonald, formerly of Regency Place, Maidstone were arrested alongside a third man, James Buckley.

All three were charged with murder and on Friday White and Macdonald, who had denied the charge, were both found guilty by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court. Buckley, aged 20 and formerly of Capell Close, Coxheath, was found unfit to plead.

White and Macdonald are due to be sentenced on January 16.

Police said a post mortem examination revealed Mr Sirbu had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and torso, with multiple skull fractures, facial bone fractures and significant injuries to his body including several fractured ribs.

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CCTV from a local skate park Images showed Macdonald and Buckley appearing to re-enact some of the violence.

Detectives also uncovered details of a conversation between White and Macdonald – White had asked Macdonald why he kept beating Mr Sirbu in the face, to which Macdonald was said to have replied “cos I thought it was funny”.

Kent Police said White claimed that on the day of the murder he planned stealing a lawnmower from a garden and was carrying a meat cleaver for protection against the person he was hoping to sell it to.

He claimed as he was making his way to the property he heard shouting and a man speaking a foreign language tried to attack him. He admitted hitting Mr Sirbu with his machete, but said he acted in self-defence.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Pledger, from Kent Police, said: ‘This was an utterly senseless attack on a young man who stood little chance of protecting himself.

“Razvan Sirbu was subjected to a horrific ordeal which appears to have been entirely unprovoked.

“He was beaten repeatedly, suffering a catalogue of appalling injuries as a result of a sustained and savage assault.

“Our investigation has uncovered compelling and overwhelming evidence linking the offenders to this murder, but their refusal to tell the truth may mean we never know precisely why they carried out this attack.”

(Top picture: Kent Police)