Trio jailed over deadly e-bike row

Terrell Boyce (left), Nathaniel Daly (centre) and Kody Stephenson were all convicted in January

An 18-year-old will serve at least 25 years in jail for murdering a man in an argument over an electric bike.

Terrell Boyce, from Hazellwell Street, Birmingham, was convicted in January of the murder of Ronique Thomas in April last year.

It was the culmination of a long-running dispute over the ownership of the bike, West Midlands Police said.

Boyce was jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court and given a minimum term of 25 years in prison.

Another man, Nathaniel Daly, 21, from Benmore Avenue in Birmingham was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A third man, Kody Stephenson, 20, from Stechford, received six-and-a-half years for robbery.

All three were involved in the fatal knife attack on the 33-year-old from Edgbaston, officers said.

Six months before the stabbing, detectives said Mr Thomas's e-bike was stolen from outside a shop in Highgate.

In March 2023 he was out with his partner in the same area when he spotted what he was sure was his bike, being ridden by Boyce.

He challenged him and the bike was reluctantly handed over but in the weeks that followed, Boyce visited the workplace of Mr Thomas’s partner "demanding the bike be returned to him and making threats of retribution".

Ronique Thomas was stabbed to death in Kings Heath in Birmingham

On 26 April, Boyce, Daly and Stephenson were travelling in a taxi in the Kings Heath area when they spotted the bike parked outside a shop, the force said.

Boyce told the driver to stop, all three got out and Boyce confronted Mr Thomas with a knife, chasing him and stabbing him several times.

West Midlands Police said Daly, who was also carrying a knife, joined in the chase and Stephenson took the bike.

All three were convicted following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court:

• Boyce was found guilty of murder, robbery and carrying a bladed article.

• Daly was convicted of manslaughter, robbery and carrying a bladed article.

• Stephenson was found guilty of robbery.