Two gang members who chased and killed a 50-year-old father, who was attacked with machetes and left to die on a busy street, have been jailed for life.
Tyrone Hollywood, 17, and 29-year-old Leighton Williams were handed minimum terms of 19 and 29 years respectively after being caught on CCTV as the older man inflicted a fatal chest wound on Kelvin Ward.
A High Court judge also sentenced Aaron Coates to 21 years’ detention for his part in the unlawful killing of Mr Ward in Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham, on April 18 last year.
Footage played to the gang’s trial, and later released by police with the approval of the victim’s family, showed Mr Ward being attacked after his 19-year-old son’s car was rammed near a roundabout on Chester Road.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, sitting at Coventry Crown Court, sentenced a fourth defendant, Rusharn Williams-Reid to 13-and-a-half years’ detention for conspiracy to murder Mr Ward’s son, who managed to flee the murder scene.
Coates and Williams-Reid, both aged 18, were told they must each serve two-thirds of their sentences before becoming eligible to apply for parole.
Passing sentence on the first anniversary of the murder, the judge said she was sure that Leighton Williams stabbed Mr Ward in the heart and that Hollywood then stood over and “taunted” the victim.
Although Mr Ward’s son is thought to have been the original intended victim, the judge added: “This was a planned attack. The defendants were not randomly driving around. They were prepared to use lethal violence.”
Explaining the sentences passed on three of the defendants, the judge told the court: “There are no second chances when someone is stabbed to death – not for them and not for the perpetrators.”
The judge said of Mr Ward’s son: “It is no exaggeration to say he was running for his life. He escaped with his life because he came across someone who let him ride on his electric bike.”
West Midlands Police released footage of the killing, with the fatal blows edited out, last November, after Williams, of North Roundhay; and Hollywood, of Findon Road; both Birmingham, were convicted of murder.
Williams-Reid, of Orchard Meadow Walk, Birmingham, was cleared of unlawfully killing Mr Ward, while Coates, of Sydney Way, Birmingham, was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter on the grounds that he did not intend death or serious harm.
All four defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to murder Mr Ward’s 19-year-old son.
Their trial was told that Mr Ward’s son’s Vauxhall Corsa was initially rammed by a Ford Kuga at a KFC branch and then forced to a halt less than a mile away.
The identity of Hollywood had been protected because of his age but the judge ordered that he should be named after his conviction for murder.
All four defendants were in the stolen Ford, with Hollywood driving, when it chased and rammed the Corsa, near the junction with Windward Way, shortly before 8pm.
Mr Ward’s son then fled as the gang from the Kuga shouted: “Get him now, keep chasing. Kill him, everyone kill him.”
He was chased by Hollywood, along with Williams and Williams-Reid, but managed to escape the immediate area.
Mr Ward then jumped into the empty Kuga and drove in the direction which his son had run off in, before colliding with a set of railings.
Hollywood and Williams were caught on CCTV attacking Mr Ward, who attempted to get into a passing car.
A police investigation found that Mr Ward’s son had been friends with some of the attackers, but they had fallen out.
In the run-up to the murder, the court heard, Mr Ward’s family home, where his son also lived, had been subject to a number of attacks during the night, including cars being set on fire.
In a statement released after last year’s verdicts, Mr Ward’s partner, Tammy, said: “He was very unique and there was never a dull moment when he was around.
“He was funny, the life and soul of a party, he worked hard to provide for his family, he had so much more to live for and loved life.
“To see the man I love stabbed by savage people then left to die like road kill dumped on a road is disgraceful and no-one should have to go through that.”