Three people have been jailed after a man was brutally tortured and killed, suffering “unthinkable cruelty” by those he considered his friends.

Lee Rhoades, 45, died from his injuries in hospital after being subjected to a “relentless” assault at a flat in a high-rise block of flats in Bathurst Street, Hull, in March.

Lee Hailstone, 33, Keeran Edge, 27, and Amie Kehoe, 24, were convicted of his murder last month and have now been jailed for life with a combined minimum term of 77 years at Hull Crown Court.

Mr Rhoades was at a party at Hailstone’s flat on March 10, where people were in “high spirits”, drinking heavily and taking Class A drugs.

Amie Kehoe, of Blisland Close, Keeran Edge, of Kilton Court, and Lee Hailstone, of Bathurst Street, were all charged with the murder of Lee Rhoades in March 2023.

However prosecutors said the mood turned deadly after a quarrel between Mr Rhoades and his killers, which then turned violent, with Hailstone assaulting Mr Rhoades.

Edge and Kehoe then began torturing Mr Rhoades, recording their attacks and bragging about them in messages, they said.

The attack continued in the communal landing, before Edge and Kehoe dragged their victim to his flat, where the last of their vicious assault took place.

Mr Rhoades was left without medical help in his flat until the early hours of March 12 when an ambulance was finally called. But it was too late and he was pronounced dead at Hull Royal Infirmary at 3.20am.

A post mortem revealed he had died as a result of head, facial, and rectal injuries causing him to suffer cardiac arrest. Evidence showed he was punched, kicked, and stamped on, as well as weapons being used to inflict as much pain possible.

Specialist Prosecutor Edmund Hulbert said: “Lee Hailstone, Keeran Edge, and Aime Kehoe’s showed the depths of their depravity in the violence they showed Lee and by leaving him for dead.

"There was absolutely no justification for the sustained violence which was made much worse by the inhumane and degrading ways in which it was carried out.

“Nothing can make up for the suffering Lee endured, but I hope this conviction and sentencing bring some comfort to those who knew him.”

Hailstone and Kehoe claimed they took no part in the deadly attack, blaming their co-defendants instead, whilst Edge accepted he has assaulted Lee, but maintained he did not intend to cause serious harm.

A further defendant, Toni Hodgson was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice for cleaning up the blood prior to the arrival of emergency services. She pleaded guilty in October and has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.

Detective Superintendent Al Curtis, from Humberside Police said Mr Rhoades had been killed by those he trusted and called friends. He said the trio “preyed on Lee’s vulnerabilities for a prolonged period of time and subjected him to a series of horrendous attacks.”

Man brutally tortured and murdered in Hull flat by trio he considered friends