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A bisexual dad has been jailed for life for battering his boyfriend to death before calmly watching an England football match on TV.

Evil Steven Mutch subjected Mark Everard, 49, to a "brutal and sustained" beating before leaving him lying in a pool of blood.

The 45-year-old punched, kicked and even used part of a table with a protruding screw to beat his defenceless partner at the home they shared.

A court heard Mr Everard was left with 99 separate injuries across his body including 15 broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a torn liver.

After the savage attack on May 30 this year, Mutch dragged Mr Everard outside on to the path and propped him up against a gas meter.

(Image: Newsteam / SWNS Group)

He then calmly walked back into their house where he put away the broken pieces of the table, got changed and put his blood stained clothing in the washing machine.

Mutch then rang 999 and told the operator Mr Everard had returned home drunk and was unconscious as the result of a fall at their home in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.

Shockingly, when paramedics arrived the murderer even went back into the house to watch England play against Peru in a World Cup warm-up match.

Mutch, of Chell Heath, Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years on Tuesday.

Sentencing him at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Simon Tonking said: "You gave Mr Everard a brutal and sustained beating which caused his death.

"You set upon him when he was in no fit state to put up any kind of defence because he was incapacitated by injuries to his knees, as well as by alcohol and possibly cannabis."

(Image: Newsteam / SWNS Group)

"You punched him and kicked him, albeit wearing no more than slippers, and you struck him a large number of blows with at least one weapon - a side piece of a table.

"It was a substantial weapon.

"You caused his family who went to identify his body the untold and enduring suffering of seeing his battered face, the horror of which they will never forget.

"The whole family is under very great strain and they still now have sleepless nights, thinking of the way Mark died. They feel they will never get over their loss."

The court heard the two men had been in a "fraught" relationship for five years.

Prosecutor Deborah Gould said Mutch's anger became uncontrolled after Mr Everard had done what he wanted and gone to get more alcohol on the afternoon of May 30.

She added: "The Crown has no doubt Mark Everard was left lying for a time in a pool of his own blood before the defendant dumped him outside by the gas meter before returning to watch the football match.

"Mr Everard was left with 99 separate injuries. Some were indicative of being struck with a table leg.

"He received at least 12 blows to his head. He had tried to defend himself by warding off blows."

The court heard Mutch, who had drank alcohol and taken cannabis, told a 999 operator the fact that his partner had bled and urinated over him was "not his problem".

A post mortem examination found Mr Everard died from abdominal injuries as a result of a tear to his liver which rapidly reduced the amount of blood circulating around his body.

Peter McCartney, defending, admitted Mr Everard suffered a "significant and prolonged" assault.

He said: "He (Mutch) says he is bisexual. It was the first homosexual relationship he had been in and it was fraught at times."

Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Darren Harding, from Staffordshire Police, said: "The overwhelming evidence amassed means Mutch has now pleaded guilty to this horrific crime."