Norfolk murderer sentenced to life with minimum of 12 years

A moving statement was read on behalf of the family of Nigel Mazs, who was kicked in the head by Martin Montgomery on December 22 last year. 

Nigel Mazs (inset) and flats at Malakoff Close, Yarmouth (Image: Submitted/Denise Bradley, Newsquest) Mr Mazs and friends had gathered in a stairwell outside Montgomery's flat in Malakoff Close, Great Yarmouth. 

At just after 11am Montgomery came out of his flat, angered at the group's drug-taking, and began shouting and swearing.

He told the group there were "f*****g kids here" before booting Mr Mazs in the head as he bent down to pick something up. The blow caused him to fall backwards onto concrete. 

Martin Montgomery after he was arrested (Image: Norfolk Constabulary) With the help of others Mr Mazs was able to reach the town centre, where the emergency services were called, but he died in hospital on January 4 almost two weeks after the attack.

Police at Regent Road, Great Yarmouth (Image: Newsquest) Montgomery appeared at Norwich Crown Court on Tuesday (November 26) for sentencing, after jurors took less than 90 minutes to find him guilty of murder following a nine-day trial earlier this month.

Judge Alice Robinson imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years imprisonment, on the same day that Montgomery turned 32.

Judge Alice Robinson (Image: Newwquest) The court heard a moving victim impact statement from Tonia McNulty, Mr Mazs's sister, who said the family were "drowning in the pain caused by the violence and brutality that caused his death".

She said Montgomery saw her brother "as just another drug user" and "took our Nigel away from us" and spoke of the family's hope that "he would one day be able to recover from his addictions and live a beautiful life free from pain".

The statement said Mr Mazs, a  man of "many roles" including grandad, dad, uncle, big brother and son, had a "cheeky sense of humour" which often "got him out of trouble".

It said he "didn't have street dweller" as one of his life goals, but it just turned out that way.

Ms McNulty said he took drugs and drank to "escape the pain" that "life had dealt him" after he suffered abuse earlier in his life.

She said he "felt he had let his family down" but insisted "he had saved us", although he never knew it, adding the family were "so grateful to him for looking after us".

Nigel Mazs (Image: Submitted) She said they thought of him "every time there was bad weather" and "all tried to help him in our own way".

The sister said the family's love for Mr Mazs would "never" go, adding that "all our Christmases will forever be a reminder of the time we spent" in hospital with him and "the weeks we spent praying for his life".

Jailing Montgomery, Judge Robinson said Mr Mazs was "down on his luck", homeless and "had a problem with drink and drugs but didn't deserve to die".

She said Montgomery "kicked him so hard it rendered him unconscious before he hit the ground"  and had been "unrepentant", continuing to shout and swear at the victim when he was on the floor.

She said he "continued to shout and swear saying get him away or I'll hit him again".

Martin Montgomery (Image: Norfolk Constabulary) Will Carter, prosecuting, said the sentence was “mandatory" and the court "must impose a life sentence" with the only issue being the minimum term.

He said it was the crown's case that Montgomery had intended to cause Mr Mazs "serious bodily harm" rather than to kill.

The court was told that among Montgomery's previous convictions were two for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and common assault on a former partner.

He served 15 months in a YOI for those offences in 2011, but was also convicted of another assault occasioning ABH on a man in Yarmouth in 2022.

John Morgans, mitigating, said there had been no premeditation to the attack on Mr Mazs.

He said it stemmed from his "anger at Class A drugs being taken just outside his front door" although the anger was "very short lived".

Mr Morgans said Montgomery had a "wretched" childhood and was diagnosed with ADHD when he was just five. He was placed into care after he was attacked with a bat at home.

He insisted Montgomery was "very sorry for the tragic consequences of what he did in those tragic moments".

Speaking after sentence, Det Insp Alix Wright said: “We hope the guilty verdict and today’s sentencing brings some level of closure to Nigel’s family.

Detective Inspector Alix Wright (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest) “This was a despicable and totally unwarranted act of violence towards a man Montgomery did not know who was in no way being aggressive towards him.

“He has now been held accountable for his actions of murder.”

Montgomery, formerly of Russell Street, Yarmouth, was convicted of murder after a nine-day trial at the crown court earlier this month.

Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest) The trial heard that Mr Mazs had been with friends in the stairwell just after 11am on December 22, 2023, when Montgomery came out of his flat, angered at their drug-taking.

Shouting at him to leave, Montgomery kicked Mr Mazs in the face as he bent down to pick up something, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head.

Emergency services were called to Regent Road just after midday, around an hour after the incident, and Mr Mazs was taken to the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.

There it was discovered he had suffered a brain haemorrhage and he was transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge by helicopter.

He was placed into an induced coma and never regained consciousness.

Montgomery was arrested at around 8.30pm on the day of the attack, while in a friend's back garden.

He was in the process of trying to burn the clothes he was wearing at the time of the attack on a barbecue.