Judge pays tribute to family of murder victim

A JUDGE’S voice caught with emotion as he praised the quiet “dignity” of a young murder victim’s family – after jailing the man’s killers for life.

Would-be firefighter, James Teer, 20, was playing with friends when he was shot dead at pointblank range in the street near where he lived.

He died after his two “coldblooded” killers went cruising the streets looking for revenge over a petty spat at a nightclub four days earlier, in which Mr Teer had acted as “peace-maker”.

Ty Blake, 19, who pulled the trigger, and Sharn Miles, 20, who drove the men to and from the scene, were told by a judge yesterday that they would serve a minimum of 32 years in prison for the “brutal” attack.

Spotting Mr Teer, Miles pulled up and called him over, as he was play-fighting with friends in Goosemoor Lane, Birmingham, on August 8, last year.

Unsuspecting Mr Teer went to the driver’s window where Blake, sitting in the passenger seat, firing both barrels into his head.

Sentencing both men at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Martin Spencer likened the shooting of the “handsome and well-loved” victim to an “execution”.

He said: “This was a coldblooded killing, carried out clinically and mercilessly, planned well in advance, in revenge for a perceived slight which offended your arrogant self-esteem.”

In a victim impact statement read to court, Mr Teer’s mother Jacqueline Brown said one moment their son had been “laughing and joking”, looking forward to his first lads’ holiday and 21st birthday, the next she was looking at him lying in the road, covered by a blanket.

The judge’s voice caught with emotion as he praised Mr Teer’s family for their calm, quiet “dignity” through the “harrowing evidence” during the trial.

“You have my admiration for the way you have conducted yourselves and borne your ordeal,” he said.

Jurors unanimously convicted Blake, of Shustoke Road, Shard End, Birmingham, and Miles, of Gowan Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham, of murder. Blake was found guilty of theft and burglary, after stealing the car.