Eight days that saw family ripped apart by knife crime
IN just over a week the same Huddersfield family had been ripped apart twice by knife crime.
Jovani Harriott was jailed for murdering schoolboy Khayri Mclean in a knife attack. Just eight days later, his father Roger, 56, was in police custody having handed himself in for the brutal murder of his sister Sandra.
The siblings had a “toxic” relationship, Harriott told police. Sandra had made allegations he had defrauded their mother which put a strain on their relationship - as did his violent outbursts.
A weapon collector, Harriott struck and sliced his sister eight times after lying in wait outside her home in Ripon Avenue. He stabbed her twice, went to leave but then returned to stab her once more ensuring the job was done.
Sandra, a much-loved motherof-two had been an ongoing victim of her brother’s violence. The Office of Public Guardian noted 104 transactions of concern and a referral was made to West Yorkshire Police.
Harriott was interviewed at Huddersfield Police Station just over three weeks before the murder. The court heard the lead up to this and bail conditions and a non-molestation order being put in place - was a series of incidents, one of which also involved a blade.
Judge Robin Mairs told Harriott: “In March 2021, following an argument with a family member you demanded your nephew leave the house and struck the wall next to his head with a machete.
“In January 2022, you drove aggressively at Sandra Harriott and a month later were verbally abusive to her and warned her not to attend your mother’s address.”
Sandra herself foretold her brother’s dangerousness. Judge Mairs said: “She took to carrying a personal alarm and texting work colleagues if she was not going to be in.”
Prosecutor David Hall said: “She felt uneasy in her mother’s home. In her own words, it made her realise how dangerous this man was. She said: ‘I know he can turn up at any time. I don’t want to be anywhere near him.’ She was fearful of the defendant and the fact he had weapons.”
The non-molestation order, prohibiting Harriott from contacting his sister or attending her and her mother’s home in Ripon Avenue was granted in September 2022.
It was outside the property that Harriott chillingly lay in wait before attacking Sandra. Judge Mairs told
him: “Sandra Harriott was 56 at the time of her death. She leaves behind two adult sons and was caring for your mother at the address in Ripon Avenue. She did so as she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.”
The judge said Sandra’s death was “foreshadowed by a litany of abuse and threats.” He said: “The attack was callous and determined...it is not suggested there was anything other than an intent to kill.”