Two siblings sentenced to life for stabbing murder

Mya and Isaiah Marsh were both given life sentences

A brother and sister have each been sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for the murder of a man in Birmingham.

Minister Enfrence, 21, was fatally stabbed in the Kings Norton area of the city last November.

Mya Marsh, 23, and Isaiah Marsh, 21, were jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, with Judge Simon Drew describing CCTV footage of the crime as "truly sickening" to watch.

He told Ms Marsh that she had been the aggressor in the initial confrontation with Mr Enfrance, who was one of her drug dealers, over a £200 cannabis debt.

Mr Marsh was told he had launched a "ferocious attack" on the victim as he "lay defenceless on his back on the floor", and had "clearly intended to kill".

Ms Marsh was caught on film as she passed a knife to her brother.

Her brother said he acted in self-defence, while she said she did not believe her brother would use the knife to stab the victim.

The pair denied murder and manslaughter.

They were unanimously found guilty of Mr Enfrence's murder by a jury on Monday, after they deliberated for less than four hours.

Minister Enfrence died in Kings Norton on 5 November

The court heard the stabbing took place just around the corner from the joint home of the defendants, on Teviot Grove in Kings Norton.

Judge Drew said the attack happened after Ms Marsh, a cannabis user, took a kitchen knife to the scene.

"One of your drugs dealers was Minister. It was that relationship, and the tensions within it, that ultimately led to his death," he said.

"I do not shy away from the fact that he was a drugs dealer who was carrying a knife on the day he died, but in no way should that be thought to justify the circumstances or manner of his death.

"He was stabbed repeatedly but he did not die instantly. In obvious pain he was able to escape from you and he tried to get help."

Mr Enfrance died of at least 12 serious knife wounds to his body, arms, hands and head. He died near the scene from his injuries, after trying to escape.

'Full of remorse'

After the killing, the court heard Ms Marsh went to her workplace "as if nothing had happened" and slept at a different address in the evening.

Offering mitigation for Ms Marsh, Rachel Brand KC said the offending was "utterly out of character" and that her client had shouted "stop it" and "break it up" during the fatal struggle.

Michael Ivers KC, representing Mr Marsh, said: "He finds it almost impossible to reconcile what he saw on the CCTV with who he is."

"He has told everyone who will listen when they have spoken to him that he is full of remorse about what happened."

Speaking after the guilty verdicts, Det Insp Dan Jarratt said the murder had a devastating effect on all who knew and loved Mr Enfrance, especially his family.

He described the attack as "brutal and cold-hearted".

In a statement, Mr Enfrence's family previously said: "Minister, you have been taken from us so abruptly and this has made an impact in our lives, leaving a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled."