Man Beats Neighbor To Death Using Bag Of 'Pokémon' Cards; Sentenced To Life In Prison

A 31-year-old man in England will spend the rest of his life in prison for beating his neighbor to death using a bag containing "Pokémon" cards after the 50-year-old man accused him of being a pedophile.

Andrew Hague was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday at Sheffield Crown Court for the murder of Simon Wilkinson, South Yorkshire Police said in a release.

Hague pleaded guilty to the murder at a hearing earlier this year. He admitted to violently assaulting Wilkinson during an argument outside his residence on Fox Hill Road in Sheffield on Aug. 2, 2022.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Tuesday that the argument started after Wilkinson allegedly called Hague a pedophile, ITV reported.

Hague confronted his neighbor, shouting, "You called me a f-----g nonce. Come out here and fight like a man."

A prosecutor said Hague repeatedly beat the victim using a bag containing "four or five tins of 'Pokémon' cards" in an assault witnessed by several neighbors, the BBC reported.

Hague also repeatedly punched and stomped on Wilkinson before picking up a piece of wood and using it to strike the victim in the head, the prosecutor added.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hague later told police that he "got carried away." He said that after his initial attack, he "felt bad" for his seriously injured neighbor and returned to the scene to "end his life."

The judge said Hague believed, in his "deluded state," that murder was "an act of mercy."

Hague had a history of mental health issues and previous convictions for violence. The court was also told that he had not been taking his prescribed medications.

But the judge decided that his mental illness was not severe enough for a defense of diminished responsibility or insanity.

He will have to serve a minimum of 17 years before he would be eligible for parole.

The judge recommended that Hague remains at Rampton, a high-security psychiatric hospital in Nottinghamshire, where he has been held since he was arrested.

"No sentence passed can ease the grief and pain that Mr. Wilkinson's family and friends have faced daily since he was murdered, but I hope that with the conclusion of our investigation and legal proceedings today they feel that they now have some justice for their loved one. My thoughts are with them again today after what will have been another difficult day," Detective Inspector John Fitzgibbons of South Yorkshire Police said after the sentencing.

He continued, "Hague admitted murder and accepted responsibility for his senseless and brutal actions, which has devastated those who knew and loved Mr. Wilkinson."