Drunk thugs who murdered Good Samaritan after he tried to stop them attacking teenage girl jailed for life

5 May 2023, 10:46

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Two men who murdered a Good Samaritan as he tried to stop them from attacking a 17-year-old girl have been jailed for life.

Reece Radford, 26, was stabbed to death after he came across Dereck Owusu and Louis James attacking a teenage girl at a bus stop in Sheffield.

Reece, who had a seven-month-old daughter, was kicked a number of times before James stabbed him in the chest.

Both have been jailed for life, with Owusu getting a minimum of 15 years and James 25 years.

James was not present at Sheffield Crown Court as Doncaster Prison staff sent the wrong person, meaning he appeared via video link instead.

James' barrister Stephen Wood KC told the court: "It is always preferable in a case as grave as this for a defendant to be present at court to receive his sentence."

Judge Sarah Wright replied: "I certainly do agree, and it is quite astonishing that that mistake has been made and Mr James has not been brought here today."

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Reece's mum described her son as the "life and soul of the family" and see he would have been the "best daddy in the world".

"He wasn't just my son, he was my best friend, my soulmate, my everything," she said in her victim statement. 

Prosecutor David Temkin KC said: "What culminated was a joint attack by both defendants on a younger man, who found himself on the ground, face up, being subjected to serious violence."

He was then stabbed in the chest by James, while being kicked in the head by Owusu.

Sentencing both to life, Judge Wright said: "Reece Redford intervened. After a very short period of time you both proceeded to launch an unlawful joint attack upon him.

"Reece Radford was unarmed and his actions never suggested he was about to produce a weapon."