Man who hired hitmen loses appeal
A JEALOUS ex-boyfriend who took out a payday loan to hire two hitmen to ‘execute’ his former girlfriend’s new partner has been told by top judges he can’t complain about his sentence. Luigi Dalli, of Sydney Street, Salford, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder and soliciting murder after plotting to kill Kurt Crawford, who had started a relationship with Joanna Beech.
Mr Crawford was attacked with a knife and an axe in the doorway of his Burnley home by brothers Liam and Carl Johnson, who had been driven there by Dalli in a hired van. He survived the attack but was left with extensive scarring and had to move from the area, leaving him “isolated” from many of his friends and family.
Even after being jailed, Dalli plotted from his prison cell to kill Mr Crawford, offering to pay a fellow prisoner. But the inmate told police what he was planning.
Dalli, 47, was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 15 years behind bars at Manchester Crown Court in May last year.
On Thursday he went to the Court of Appeal, in London, to argue this was far too long.
But his complaints were thrown out by three senior judges, who said his punishment could not be criticised.
Rejecting Dalli’s argument that his sentence was over the top, Judge Eleri Rees QC said there could be no complaint about his minimum term.
Sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Mr Justice Stuart-Smith, she added: “There is no merit in any of the grounds of appeal.”
The court heard Dalli developed an “obsessive and overwhelming” obsession in Ms Beech when she ended their relationship in May 2014 after he was violent towards her at her home.
He subjected her to a campaign of harassment, damaging her car and a neighbour’s car, and writing messages on Facebook about her new partner.
Turning his attentions to Mr Crawford, Dalli decided to have him killed and recruited the Johnson brothers for just £500 each.
On 14 June 2015, he drove the pair to the victim’s then home in Cog Lane, Burnley, and waited nearby to help them dispose of the body as the brothers carried out their attack.
Mr Crawford was struck with the axe and stabbed repeatedly, suffering life-threatening injuries including a puncture to his liver.
However, the attackers were chased away by a passer by, who came to Mr Crawford’s aid.