Preston men jailed for stab murder after house party fight

Benjamin Bibby (left) and Andrew Wilcock armed themselves with knives before confronting Lee Dawson

Two men who stabbed a man to death in a street "execution" after he threw a punch at a house party have been jailed for his murder.

Lee Dawson, 42, was asked to leave the party after hitting Benjamin Bibby in Preston.

Bibby, 21, and Andrew Wilcock, 29, armed themselves with knives and followed Mr Dawson before stabbing him in Jutland Street in June last year.

They were each sentenced to a minimum of 24 years at Preston Crown Court.

Bibby, of Dawson Walk, Preston, and Wilcock, of Lincoln Walk, Preston, who both denied murder and were found guilty after a three-week trial.

Robert Cross, 34, of Milner Street, Preston, who joined in the attack, was handed a 15-year sentence after being convicted of manslaughter.

He was cleared of murder but found guilty of the lesser charge which he denied.

Kerry Metcalfe, 39, of Dawson Walk, Preston, was sentenced to 15 months for assisting an offender.

Lee Dawson was described as "a big friendly giant" by his family

Mr Dawson, who grew up in Preston but had moved to Sunderland, had returned to his home city to attend a funeral.

The court heard how Bibby and Wilcock confronted Mr Dawson after leaving the Driscoll Street party and swung their knives at him, before being joined by Cross.

The pair chased and stabbed Mr Dawson several times as he reached Jutland Street, with a large wound to his chest proving fatal.

Det Ch Insp Mark Haworth-Oates said the men had "planned, waited and executed a brutal attack on Mr Dawson", which he described as "cowardly" and "senseless".

The men were captured chasing Lee Dawson by CCTV

After sentencing, he said: "Bibby and Wilcock could have walked away from their argument with Mr Dawson at any time but instead they went to collect knives, put on face coverings and lay in wait from him to come past before attacking him.

"Cross happened across this incident by chance but again [he] had a choice. He chose to join the knife-wielding attackers, further outnumbering Mr Dawson and chased him down the street where he was stabbed to death.

"Kerry Ann Metcalf also had a choice - she chose to assist Cross after the offence by pouring liquid on to his hands."

He added: "[They] left Lee Dawson on the street bleeding to death."

Mr Dawson's mother, Christine, said after sentencing: "No sentence imposed will bring back a much-loved son, brother, father and friend or reflect the heartache and pain these people have inflicted on our family.

"We have to live with this huge loss and emptiness."

She added: "Lee had so much to live for and these people have taken that away."