Murderer is jailed for life
ADAD who smirked as he fatally stabbed his girlfriend’s ex has been jailed for life.
Joseph Hindle admitted stabbing 33-year-old Mark Fisher from Accrington in what he claimed was a robbery to steal cannabis, but he was found guilty of murder after a trial at Preston Crown Court in December.
The trial heard Hindle, of Woodside Road, Huncoat, had been goaded into attacking Mr Fisher by his girlfriend Louise Henwood, who has a son, Aidan, with Mr Fisher.
Henwood, 34, pleaded guilty to manslaughter before the trial took place.
During the six-day trial the jury heard Henwood had been in a volatile relationship with Mr Fisher 10 years ago and had badmouthed him to Hindle before the killing.
The pair plotted the robbery on January 18 last year and Hindle went to Mr Fisher’s house in Edleston Street at lunchtime the following day pretending to be someone called Joe Frank who was looking to buy cannabis.
He attacked Mr Fisher in the kitchen, stabbing him repeatedly to his face, chest and arms with such force the knife penetrated his internal organs. One of Mr Fisher’s ribs was broken by the knife. The court heard Hindle smirked while inflicting the fatal wounds and continued to attack Mr Fisher as he tried to defend himself and pleaded with him to stop.
During the trial Hindle claimed the injuries to Mr Fisher were sustained accidentally as he tried to move him during the robbery.
But the jury dismissed his claims and found him guilty of murder. Both Hindle and Henwood appeared for sentencing last Friday at Preston Crown Court.
Although Henwood ‘wasn’t directly involved in the killing’ she was ‘ the cause or instigation of the violence that led to the death’, prosecutor Tim Evans said.
“She was winding up Mr Hindle and that was done with the result that violence was a very likely outcome and that is the very real sense in which she caused the death.
“It wasn’t one comment, it was over a period of time, calculated to have a maximum impact.”
Henwood had told Hindle that Mr Fisher had been ‘violent to a puppy and a child’ and also made ‘a false allegation that he was a child sex offender’.
This ‘pushed Hindle over the edge’ and provoked him into the action when ‘the mere suggestion of taking the stash was not having that effect’, Mr Evans said.
“Do him and be a man,” Henwood had told Hindle.
In a statement read out in court Mr Fisher’s mum, Marilyn Fisher, said her son’s death has had a ‘devastating effect’ on the whole family.
The court heard 47-yearold Hindle has previous convictions for robbery, possession of a bladed article, using an imitation firearm to evade arrest and battery. Henwood has 42 offences on her criminal record including convictions of violence. Both Henwood and Hindle were said to have been long-term users of Class A drugs.
Felicity Gerry QC, who represented Hindle, accepted that ‘this was a robbery where a murder takes place’.
Miss Gerry QC read out a lengthy quote from John Steinbeck’s classic novel Of Mice And Men relating to the characters of Lennie and Crooks which is said to reveal much about the vulnerability of those who find themselves on the fringe of mainstream society.
“In our submission the authorities should... recognise that addiction is a form of vulnerability,” Miss Gerry added.
Claire Thomas, representing Henwood, said there was a history of ‘significant violence towards Henwood by Mark Fisher’.
The court heard the author of a pre-sentence report concluded Henwood, who has been diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, was deemed to be ‘dangerous’.
“Any deep-seated traits could be rectified by a lengthy period in custody where she has access to help and access to medication and is able to hopefully, once and for all, get rid of these difficulties,” Miss Thomas added.
“She poses some risk but it can be managed.”
Henwood, who as a child was described in school as ‘bright’ and achieved Grade 8 on the clarinet, has written letters to the son she shared with Mr Fisher since being remanded in custody at Styal Prison.
Hindle, whose son and sister attended the sentencing, was given a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 27 years.
Henwood, described by the judge, Robert Altham, as ‘the driving force’ in Mr Fisher’s murder, was jailed for 13 years. Adding a fiveyear extended sentence to follow after her release the judge added: “The public will only be protected by the imposition of an extended sentence; the public need protection from this woman.”