A “bully”, “intimidating” and a “psychopath” — those were just three words used to describe Harrogate killer Philip Watson during a murder trial.

Watson, 35, brutally tortured and murdered Paul Tillett, 56, in the victim's second floor flat on Strawberry Dale in Harrogate.

He bound and gagged Mr Tillett before kicking, punching and stamping on him and setting fire to his hair with a “makeshift flamethrower”.

In a last act of indignity, Watson carved a “W” into Mr Tillett’s head as though he was marking his territory.

The murder shocked Harrogate and the two-week trial, which ended today (June 27), gave an insight into the mind of a man who, until recently, was walking the same streets as the general public.

A bully who preys on vulnerable people

Watson was known to his victim and those who witnessed the murder.

A known drug addict, the 35-year-old would invite himself into Mr Tillett’s flat at 8 Strawberry Dale along with other drug users to smoke crack cocaine and drink.

The flat had an "open door policy", but Watson abused it and took advantage of his victim.

Unlike the other people who dropped by, Watson had issues with Mr Tillett.

The two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court was told he would often bully Mr Tillett.

The 56-year-old, who was described in court as “well liked” and “vulnerable”, had told police on one occasion that Watson was often “aggressive” towards him but he did not know why.

In fact, Mr Tillett had reported his killer three times to police before his death on September 29, 2024.

Watson, who was homeless, would take advantage of Mr Tillett, according to witnesses in the trial. One witness described him as a “bully who bullies vulnerable people”.

Four months before the murder, he punched a hole through a wall in the Strawberry Dale flat in a fit of rage and subsequently forced entry to the flat hours later.

Watson’s anger and violence is no secret to Yorkshire’s courtrooms.

In October 2022, he was jailed for 21 months after attacking nurses at Harrogate District Hospital. During the case, he was described as a “violent brute” and “serial thief”.

Torture

Watson's preoccupation with torture methods was well known to those who knew him.

During the trial in Leeds, the court heard on multiple occasions that he had tortured other people.

On one occasion in August 2024, Watson tied a named man to a chair with socks and filmed him on a mobile phone. During filming, he asked the man to repeat that he was a “muppet”, had not had sex in 30 years and was "a grass".

The footage of the incident was played in court. The man was believed to have been punched "a number of times" by Watson.

One witness recounted that Watson had bragged about holding a woman hostage and said he told her that he had killed her son and “hid the body in Paul Tillett’s sofa”.

Another named man was tied up by Watson at a house in Jennyfields over “drug money”, Leeds Crown Court was told. However, this incident was never reported to police.

Watson would go onto inflict these methods of torture on Mr Tillett in a “prolonged and persistent” attack motivated by anger.

He appeared to hold a grudge towards his victim for making a phone call to police three months before the fatal attack.

On June 1, Mr Tillet reported Watson to police after he forced entry to his flat by kicking the door in and crawling under the gap which was created at 10.15pm.

Mr Tillett’s statement at the time was read aloud in court. It said:

He tried to stab me, but caused no injury. I let him in because I was fearful.

In his statement, Mr Tillett said he tried to call police discreetly while Watson smoked crack cocaine — but he noticed. When police tried to call back, Watson called him “a grass” and left.

During the fatal attack, Watson repeatedly called Mr Tillett a “grass”.

The prosecution during the case said he was “motivated by anger” because Mr Tillett had reported him to the police.

‘He has people on the outside’

Mr Justice Hilliard is set to sentence Watson, who pleaded guilty to murder, on an unconfirmed date.

The impending prison sentence will see the 35-year-old killer removed from the streets of Harrogate entirely.

But his custodial sentence has not allayed the fear that still exists in those who knew him.

Witnesses during the trial would frequently say how scared they were of Watson or put on record how they would try their best to avoid him entirely. People contacted the Stray Ferret to say how pleased they were we were revealing his true nature and said they were too terrified to speak out.

Asked in court why she was scared of him, one witness said: “He still has people outside of prison."