Life sentences for knife-attack killers

Bailey Atkinson died after being attacked in the street in 2023

Seven youths who stabbed a man to death in Walsall have been given life sentences with minimum terms ranging from 18 to 23 years.

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

Sonny Loveridge, 20, Ronan McCulloch, 19, and 18-year-olds Patrick Brookes and Benjamin Wilkes were found guilty of his murder after a 10-week trial, along with three 17-year-olds.

Mr Justice James Goss, the judge at Nottingham Crown Court, said it had been a case of "another life needlessly being taken" and that Mr Akinson "did nothing at the scene by way of provocation".

A family statement, read out in court, said he had been "chased down, hacked to death and left to lie in the street" in a "violent and cowardly way".

The trial had been told Mr Atkinson had been walking through Walsall's market area with a female friend when a car swerved towards him.

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

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

'Sickening to watch'

Reading out the family statement in court, the wife of Mr Atkinson's uncle said: "Having to hear and watch over and over again Bailey's final moments on earth was particularly harrowing."

She said it had been sickening to watch the defendants laughing in the dock and asked "what type of people are you?"

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" she read.

The statement described Mr Atkinson as a "kind and thoughtful" man who "meant such a lot to people".

It noted how his dying words were to tell his mother he loved her.

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

Ronan McCulloch, 19, of Livingstone Road, Bloxwich, and Sonny Loveridge, 19, of Irvine Road, Bloxwich, were among seven who carried out the attack

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

The court heard McCulloch had tried to take photos of Mr Atkinson as he lay dying on the ground.

Mr Justice Goss said it was clear a number of weapons, including a machete and a so-called Rambo knife, had been used and passed between the offenders.

It had been another sad instance of "large and lethal bladed weapons carried as a matter of routine," he added.

Mr Atkinson, in contrast, "only acted defensively" when he was cornered and suffered 32 wounds.

Referring to his family, the judge said: "Many lives have been needlessly ruined."

Benjamin Wilkes, 18, of Guild Avenue, Bloxwich, and Patrick Brookes, 18, of Hunter Crescent, Walsall, were found guilty of murder

Loveridge, 20, from Bloxwich played a "leading role", the judge said, and was given a minimum term of 23 years.

McCulloch, 19, also from Bloxwich, was told he would serve at least 20 years before being considered for parole.

Brookes, 18, of Walsall, will also serve at least 20 years.

Wilkes, 18, of Bloxwich, who remained in his car, will serve at least 18 years in jail.

The three 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had each stabbed Mr Atkinson a number of times and were each sentenced to a minimum term of 19 years.

The judge said the youngest of those three had been only 15 at the time of the attack.