Ipswich Joe Pooley murder: Three jailed for river death

Joe Pooley, 22, was set upon by two men after sleeping with one of the defendants, Becki West-Davidson

Three people have been jailed for at least 17 years each for murdering a vulnerable man who was attacked and drowned in a river.

Joe Pooley, 22, was thrown in the River Gipping in Ipswich and held under the water in August 2018.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Becki West-Davidson "stoked up hostility" towards him, and he was then set upon by Sean Palmer and Sebastian Smith.

Judge Martyn Levett said the "pitiless" attack stemmed from sexual jealousy.

In a statement she read in court, the victim's mother, Sam Nicholls, said she had unwittingly consoled West-Davidson at her son's memorial service, "when you were the reason he was not here".

All three denied murder but were convicted by a jury in March.

Solicitors acting for Mr Pooley's family said after his murder, one of the accused, Luke Greenland, changed his name to Sebastian Smith and moved to Scotland.

He was on licence from prison at the time and it transpired he ought to have been recalled to jail before Mr Pooley was murdered.

Ms Nicholls now hopes there will be an inquest to fully understand the full circumstances leading up to her son's death.

Bullying 'target'

The court heard Mr Pooley, who had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Asperger's and autism, was a target for bullies, and preyed upon for his trusting personality.

The night before he was killed, he slept with 30-year-old West-Davidson, of Roper Court, Ipswich, who was previously known as Rebecca Shevlin.

She then sent "bragging" texts to Smith, 35.

Mr Pooley then received aggressive and threatening Facebook messages from Smith over the course of 12 hours.

(From left) Sean Palmer, Sebastian Smith, and Becki West-Davidson must serve minimum terms of between 17 and 21 years in jail

When a fearful Mr Pooley contacted West-Davidson, the judge said she called him a "low-life scumbag", threatened him and ignored him.

Late on 6 August, he was lured out of his flat at a bed and breakfast in Ipswich by Smith, and taken to a flat where he was interrogated and given alcohol, which he was not used to.

He was then walked home along the towpath by Smith, of no fixed address, and Palmer, 31, of Shakespeare Road, Ipswich, who both threw him in the river.

The court heard Palmer held Mr Pooley's head under the water, which he later confessed to his mother.

'Love triangle'

"This is all to do with sexual jealousy, because of the relationship between the three of you," said Judge Levett.

"Joe Pooley infiltrated a particular group of people... those messages indicate that his sexual encounter caused Sebastian Smith to feel aggressive, angry and hostile towards Joe Pooley."

He said the jealousy and "love triangle" sounded like a film - "but this was not a film, this was real life in Ipswich".

"You left him out in the cold," Judge Levett told West-Davidson, the only defendant in court for the sentencing after Palmer and Smith refused to attend.

"He was only after a good loving heart - you broke his heart and toyed with his emotions."

Handing down life sentences, the judge said Smith must serve at least 21 years, Palmer 18 years, and West-Davidson 17 years.

Sam Nicholls, who is a support worker for adults with learning difficulties, said her son's killers were bullies

Joe Pooley's body was found almost a week after he was killed, the court was told

The judge said Mr Pooley was not under an adult care supervision order and, had he been, he may not have been "mixed up" with the defendants.

"Perhaps that's a lesson to be learned," he said.

Ms Nicholls added in her statement that she believed he would still be alive had he been given appropriate accommodation by the local authority.

After the sentencing she said: "While nothing can bring my son back, at the very least, his killers have finally faced justice for the crime they committed.

"Joe was a vulnerable young man who should have been afforded all the support the state could muster, but it is clear that this did not happen.

"To get to the bottom of what happened in the lead up to my son's murder I believe an inquest must be held to identify if and where failings occurred. We must get to the truth, so I can finally come to terms with what happened, as well as knowing that lessons have been learned, so this can never happen to another family."

Human rights solicitor, Sarah Flanagan, said his mother hoped an inquest "will include looking into the adequacy of the care provided by the various organisations that were involved with Joe and also the failure to recall Luke Greenland to prison".

"While Ms Nicholls welcomes the conviction and sentencing of Joe's killers, there are many unanswered questions," she said.

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