Fact finding hearing due as court weighs up man’s role in helping Boston murderer

A Bulgarian man accused of helping a suspect after he carried out a fatal attack on a Boston pub manager has today (Monday June 9) appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.

Maskim Iliev, 36, was jailed for life in October last year after he was convicted of murdering devoted dad-of-one Adrian Whiting, 35, with a fierce blow to his head with a baseball bat.

Mr Whiting was deliberately hit over the head after he went to the door of his pub to "ward off" Iliev who was rowing with his partner in the street.

Harrowing CCTV from the Carpenters Arms in Boston, showed Iliev disarming Mr Whiting of his own baseball bat and then striking him twice.

Jurors heard Iliev was later detained with his luggage as he tried to catch a flight from Luton airport following the attack on January 14 last year.

Rumen Dambinov, 32, of no fixed address, has admitted a charge of assisting an offender in relation to Iliev's attempted escape.

A hearing at Lincoln Crown Court was told Dambinov was aware that there had been "some sort of assault."

But Lauren Elliott, defending Dambinov, said he did not know that a weapon had been used or the severity of Mr Whiting's injuries.

Lisa Harding, prosecuting, said the Crown Prosecution Service did not accept Dambinov's account and asked for the case to be adjourned for a judge to decide the correct version of events.

The fact finding hearing - also known as a Newton hearing - will take place at Lincoln Crown Court on August 8 after Dambinov was remanded into custody

Judge Simon Hirst told Dambinov he would have to decide his knowledge of the assault on Mr Whiting and Iliev's reason for trying to leave the UK.

Iliev's long term partner, Katya Tsoneva, 35, was also jailed for two years after she helped to gather his belongings and fund a plane ticket for his escape.

Both Mr Whiting's partner, Sarah Taylor, and the couple's young child were inside the pub when Iliev delivered the fatal blow, the trial heard.

Mr Whiting never recovered from the blow and died ten days later in hospital.