Killer jailed for 13 years
Postman stabbed daughter’s partner 56 times and found guilty of manslaughter
A postman has been jailed for 13 years for the manslaughter of his daughter’s partner who was stabbed to death.
Barry Rewcroft, 51, of Raincliffe Avenue, was cleared by a jury last Friday at Leeds Crown Court of murdering 49-year-old Shaun Atkinson but convicted by an 11 to one majority of unlawfully killing him.
Rewcroft’s son Ruben, 20, was found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter.
Sentencing Barry Rewcroft on Friday, Mr Justice Soole said after his daughter and two grandsons had arrived at his home on December 27 in distress screaming Mr Atkinson was coming to kill them, he and Ruben had decided to “go down to confront Shaun”.
“You had been drinking that afternoon. You took with you a kitchen knife with a nine-inch blade and Ruben took a child’s bat.
“Within moments of your entry into the kitchen you launched a ferocious assault on Shaun with the knife. He was unarmed. You inflicted 56 wounds of which 48 were stabbing wounds and eight were slashing wounds to his front, back and sides.” He said in evidence Barry Rewcroft described intending only to try and calm Shaun down.
He could not remember what happened after that and his counsel Richard Wright QC described it as “a minute of madness”.
The judge said from the jury’s verdicts: “It follows that I sentence you on the basis that there was no pre-planning of this assault, that you and Ruben went down to confront him in consequence of his latest behaviour, that you took the knife for self-protection and that you suddenly un- leashed this attack without intent to kill or cause him really serious injury.”
But he said Mr Atkinson was unarmed: “If there was any initial aggression from him it must have been minor.”
He told Rewcroft that the background of Mr Atkinson’s behaviour to his daughter provided no mitigation for the offence. He said he’d demonstrated clear and compelling remorse since the killing.
‘You inflicted 56 wounds of which 48 were stabbing wounds’