Man gets life for murder of 2 drug dealers

An English judge scolded a man convicted of killing two drug dealers Tuesday as he sentenced him to at least 35 years, telling him he joined a "criminal club." Thomas Haigh, 26, who was found guilty Monday of the double murder, was given a life sentence, the BBC reported. The bodies of Brett Flournoy, 31, a professional boxer from the Liverpool area, and David Griffiths, 35, a former cage fighter from Berkshire, were found burned and buried on a farm in Cornwall. The owner of Sunny Corner Farm in St. Austell, Ross Stone, 28, received a 5-year sentence for helping Haigh hide the bodies. Stone was acquitted of murder. The judge said Flournoy and Griffiths were "bad men" but being drug dealers does not make them eligible for the death penalty in England. Investigators said Flournoy and Griffiths wanted Haigh to make a trip to Brazil to carry back cocaine. "You were attracted to the gangster way of life, you convinced yourself you were a big boy playing in the big league," Mr. Justice Mackay said. "But I found your erratic behavior made you unsuited to this elusive trade. This was no more than a result of your chosen lifestyle. You knew the rules of the criminal club you joined and you broke them." The BBC reported that Flournoy and Griffiths installed Haigh at Sunny Corner Farm because Stone owed them money. Police became interested in the farm after the two men were reported missing.