Boy detained for murder of Ian Kirwan who told teen off at supermarket

Ian Kirwan was a software engineer contractor for Jaguar Land Rover

A 15-year-old boy has been detained for at least 14 years for stabbing a man to death outside an Asda store.

Ian Kirwan, 53, was attacked at the supermarket in Redditch on 8 March after telling a group of boys off for messing about in the customer toilets.

He died after being stabbed in the heart.

On Wednesday, the teenager who cannot be legally identified, was told he would be detained for life for Mr Kirwan's murder.

The attack was "so utterly senseless it defies description", said Mr Justice Fraser, the judge at Birmingham Crown Court.

Jurors heard the boy was in town to rob and deal drugs, and was part of a masked gang that "terrorised" the public.

The Birmingham teenager had travelled by train to the town with other youths, who subjected Mr Kirwan to a minute-long attack near the Asda store's entrance.

Three other boys, aged 14, 15 and 16, were given youth rehabilitation orders after being cleared of murder, but found guilty of violent disorder.

The older boy had also previously admitted having the 12-inch kitchen knife used in the fatal attack.

The judge said the group, wearing dark clothing and some with balaclavas, were "determined to cause trouble" and "terrorise the place".

'No reason at all'

They travelled with an intention to "stain" - street slang meaning to rob - as well as "attempt to deal in drugs".

They had caused trouble on the train over and stormed, en masse, into a nail bar, stealing items including a wrench, while abusing members of the public and seeking a confrontation, "all indicative of a general plan", the judge said.

Mr Kirwan, an artificial intelligence engineer at Jaguar Land Rover in Coventry, had travelled to the town's B&Q to buy a light switch, and had only visited Asda to use the toilets, the court heard.

"Ian Kirwan never came home, he was murdered by teenagers for no reason at all," Mr Justice Fraser said.

While he was in the toilets, the defendants had behaved in an "extremely anti-social fashion", the judge said, banging on the door and shouting at him to get out.

One said they would urinate on the floor, then they left.

It was Mr Kirwan's "fatal misfortune" to again come across the group as he left the store, as they waited for other friends to be kicked out by a security guard.

"I find all Mr Kirwan did outside the supermarket, when the defendants were by the trollies, was to admonish them for their trouble-making and anti-social behaviour in the lavatories." Mr Justice Fraser said.

Stabbed in the heart, the 53-year-old would run a few steps back into the Asda store, the judge said.

While one of the group attempted to follow him, a female member of the public told him off and he rejoined the group as they ran off towards the railway station.

Mr Kirwan would die on the floor of the supermarket a short time later, despite the efforts of members of the public and paramedics to save him.

Speaking after the trial, local anti-crime campaigner Peter Martin said the murder had had a "massive" impact on the community

During the trial, some of the youths had claimed they were acting in self-defence - an "insult", the judge said to those affected by the victim's murder.

"Mr Kirwan and his wife had that day been looking after a friend's foster child," Mr Justice Fraser said.

"This is an example of the sort of caring person he was."

In a victim personal statement read to court, Mr Kirwan's wife Lyndsey Blythe said: "Ian was my rock, my soulmate, my husband. Ian didn't deserve to die."

Other friends and family had previously highlighted his passion for peace and education, saying it was in his nature to give "people chances".

'Incredible strength'

The 16-year-old boy was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order for 36 months, with the other two defendants given 24 months.

None of the defendants can be named for legal reasons.

West Mercia Police said Mr Kirwan's family had shown "incredible strength, courage and dignity" during the trial.

The force took knife crime incredibly seriously, it said, with dedicated officers working to steer young people away.

"I hope today's sentence sends a clear message that we can and do take action against those who carry them," added Det Supt Leighton Harding.

"This case is a poignant reminder of the dangers of carrying a knife. They simply have no place in our society."

During sentencing, Mr Justice Fraser said the case was "a stark reminder - if society were to need one - of the danger of young people carrying knives with them as a matter of routine".

If knife crime had, as was described in 2009 by another High Court judge, reached "epidemic proportions", then "it appears to be even more so now", he added.

"During the period of this trial, the media have been reporting fatal stabbings on a depressingly regular basis," he said.