‘I am sorry, I did not mean to kill him’, says knifeman found guilty of murder
UNANIMOUS JURY VERDICT MET BY GASPS AND CHEERS
A KILLER told the mother of the man he stabbed to death, “I am sorry, I did not mean to kill him” as he was found guilty of his murder.
Bradley Ward went on to say “I mean that, you know” as a jury took a full day deliberating to unanimously convict the 24-year-old.
There were also gasps and cheers from some in the public gallery as the foreman informed Derby Crown Court of the decision.
The trial, which began last month, saw harrowing CCTV played showing the victim Ricky Lee Collins stagger and then collapse while losing blood after being fatally stabbed.
Minutes before, the 31-year-old had been stabbed once to the torso and again to the arm by Ward, who had denied the charge claiming he was acting in self-defence.
Mary Loram QC, opening the prosecution’s case, said: “On the evening of March 29, of this year a young man, Ricky Lee Collins, was stabbed to death.
“That killing took place just before 10 at night. It was the second injury to his arm which was to lead to his death because an artery was cut leading to fatal blood loss.
“There is no dispute about that and there is also no dispute that is was Bradley Ward who stabbed Ricky Lee Collins.
“We say this was no act of selfdefence.
“It was an act of anger. We say Bradley Ward armed himself with a knife before the encounter with Ricky Lee Collins and that cannot be selfdefence.”
Miss Loram said on the evening of the stabbing, a friend of Mr Collins, called Mia Turner, was having a girls’ night in with her friend Jamie-Leigh Jessop, the partner of the defendant, at Miss Turner’s address in Westthorpe Road, Killamarsh.
She said, shortly before 10pm, Mr Collins drove to the address in his white Mercedes van having spoken to Miss Turner who told him she was at her address with Miss Jessop.
Miss Loram said: “He (Mr Collins) did not like Miss Jessop. He believed she had been saying bad things about him behind his back. “At the address he assaulted Jamie-Leigh Jessop, grabbed her by the hair, accusing her of bad-mouthing him.” Miss Loram said Mr Collins then left and immediately afterwards Miss Jessop called Ward and told her what had happened to her. She played a CCTV clip of the two vehicles, one containing Ward and the other driven by Mr Collins, meet close to the nearby Nag’s Head pub, also in Westthorpe Road.
Miss Loram said the two vehicles pulled up alongside each other and shortly after, Mr Collins walked away to hide, telling a passer-by who was walking in the street he had been stabbed.
CCTV played to the jury then showed him collapse more than once and ending up laying on his back on the ground on a paved area in front of a bungalow, in nearby Rose Way.
She said members of the public called 999 and he was treated at the scene, but pronounced dead at hospital, shortly after midnight, around two hours after he was stabbed.
Miss Loram said: “Bradley Ward, meanwhile, had fled, driving to Mia Turner’s house, making JamieLeigh Jessop get in the car and driving away.
“There (at the address) he was heard shouting ‘I have stabbed him, I have killed him.’
“He was arrested at some point and was interviewed by the police.
“At first, he refused to say anything, but in his second interview changed his approach.
“He said it was Ricky who threatened him, it was Ricky who got out of his van and tried to hit him.
“He said he heard something like ‘a ting’ and didn’t know if it was a metal bar or knife and so he grabbed something, he seems to say it was a screwdriver, and jabbed out at him.”
Ward, of Fairfax Drive, Woodhouse, Sheffield, will be sentenced on January 17.
Detective Chief Inspector Sally Blaiklok, who led the investigation into Ricky’s death, said: “I would like to pass my sincere condolences to the family of Ricky; they have acted with dignity throughout a terrible period in their lives and throughout this trial.
“I hope that today’s result at court will bring some semblance of closure for them with regards to criminal justice. We understand this may be the first steps in them now being able to grieve as a family.
“I wish to thank our team of officers and the Crown Prosecution Service who together have delivered a first class response to the murder of Ricky Collins, and enabled the conviction of Bradley Ward and the others who helped him to try to evade justice.”
Martin Mongan (45) of Pontefract in West Yorkshire, and Ward’s parents David Ward (44) and Kelly Ward (43) who are also from Sheffield, all pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
They will also be sentenced in January.
I hope today’s result will bring some semblance of closure with regards to criminal justice. Chief Insp Sally Blaiklok