Life sentences for knife attack murderers

Seven teenagers who stabbed a man to death in Walsall have been sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of between 18 and 23 years.

Bailey Atkinson, 21, was attacked on High Street in January 2023.

Sonny Loveridge and Ronan McCulloch, both 19, and 18-year-olds Patrick Brookes and Benjamin Wilkes were found guilty of murder along with three 17-year-olds after a 10-week trial.

Justice James Goss, sitting at Nottingham Crown Court, said it was a case of “another life being taken needlessly” and that Mr Akinson “did nothing at the scene to provoke the incident”.

In a statement read out in court, the family said he was “hunted, hacked to death and left lying on the street” in a “violent and cowardly manner.

The trial heard that Mr Atkinson was walking through Walsall’s market area with a friend when a car drove towards him.

He was then pursued by the youths, who were travelling in two stolen cars, and eventually forced into the High Street, where six of the occupants got out and attacked him with large bladed weapons.

He was left bleeding on the street and later died in hospital.

The family statement, read in court by Atkinson’s uncle’s wife, said: “Having to hear and see Bailey’s final moments on earth over and over again was particularly distressing.”

It was said that it was disgusting to watch the defendants laughing in the dock and the question was asked: “What kind of person are you?”

“Did you really think you could get away with this?” she read.

The statement described Mr Atkinson as a “kind and thoughtful” man who “meant so much to people”.

It was mentioned that his last words were to tell his mother that he loved her.

The family urged others to “stop and think” before using knives.

West Midlands Police officers believe the attack was revenge for an alleged assault by Atkinson on McCulloch’s brother two months earlier.

The court heard he had tried to take photographs of Mr Atkinson as he lay dying on the floor.

Judge Goss said it was clear that the perpetrators had used and passed around numerous weapons, including a machete and a so-called “Rambo knife”.

This is another sad case of “the routine carrying of large and deadly bladed weapons,” he added.

Mr Atkinson, on the other hand, “acted purely defensively” when he was cornered and suffered 32 injuries.

Referring to his family, the judge said: “Many lives were senselessly destroyed.”

Sonny Loveridge, 20, from Bloxwich, played a “leading role”, the judge said, and was sentenced to a minimum term of 23 years.

Ronan McCulloch, 19, also from Bloxwich, was told he must serve a minimum of 20 years before being considered for parole.

Patrick Brookes, 18, from Walsall, must also serve a minimum prison sentence of 20 years.

Benjamin Wilkes, 18, of Bloxwich, who remained in his car, faces a minimum prison sentence of 18 years.

The three 17-year-olds, whose names cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, each stabbed Mr Atkinson several times and were sentenced to a minimum term of 19 years.

The judge said the youngest of the three was only 15 years old at the time of the attack.

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