The four men convicted of murdering Byron Griffin will serve a minimum of 25 years each behind bars.
Jordan Fairbrother, Dylan Geary, Daniel Lewsley and Grant Masterson were all found guilty following a six-week trial at Derby Crown Court, Derbyshire Live reports.
Today they heard what how long they will spend in prison for the vicious street attack that left Mr Griffin, from East Leake, fatally wounded.
Geary, 22, and Lewsley, 32, will serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars before being eligible for parole, while Masterson, 29, will serve a minimum of 26 years and Fairbrother, 26, a minimum of 27 years.
The victim, 22, was found with two stab wounds in Eyre’s Garden, Ilkeston, at around 12.40pm on Sunday, July 4, last year.
Mr Griffin was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where he was declared deceased shortly after 2pm.
Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: "In doing what you all did that day you deprived a young man of his life and his family of a son, brother and grandson. The continuing impact on them for this will be for the rest of their lives. On the evidence I am satisfied that you, Jordan Fairbrother, stabbed Byron Griffin to death."
She continued: "You all had fearsome weapons and I am satisfied you all intended at the very least to cause really serious harm to Byron Griffin.
"I am satisfied this was a joint attack by all of you armed with weapons.
"This is not an offence with a significant degree of planning. However, it's right to say it can't be described as a spontaneous eruption of violence, this was a planned ambush, you were the aggressors lying in wait for whoever came along."
Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones outlined the four defendants' criminal records. Masterson has a previous conviction of violence against a former partner and was jailed for 27 months in 2013 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm on her .
He has also this morning pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis, after being caught with up to £600 of cannabis in Ilkeston in May 2019.
Geary's previous convictions include criminal damage and shoplifting as a youth and an offence in May 2020 for possession of a bladed article.
Lewsley has a previous conviction for harassment dating back to 2015.
Fairbrother has what Mr Lloyd-Jones called "an extensive record dating back to when he was aged 10 years old." It includes a 14-month jail term for "a range of offences" including assaulting a former partner.
Turning to the murder, Mr Lloyd-Jones said: "It was the prosecution's case that Jordan Fairbrother stabbed the deceased twice with a kitchen knife and the other three defendant's encouraged him to inflict the fatal stab wounds.
"Each of these four defendants were armed with weapons taken to the scene. As part of the ambush Masterson had a baseball bat."
Mr Lloyd-Jones said the starting point in the guidelines for a minimum term, before aggravating and mitigating features, is 25 years in prison.
The prosecutor said the fatal stab wound inflicted by Fairbrother went into Mr Griffin's heart.
Mr Lloyd-Jones said: "In her victim impact statement Zoe Cooke, Mr Griffin's mother, said the murder of her son has ruined her life describing her family as 'broken'.
"She said she is living a 'never ending nightmare' and other family members talk of the the loss of a much-loved and caring young man and that their lives have been torn apart."
Before the sentences were handed out, the defence barristers for the four defendants gave their mitigation.
Nicholas Rhodes, for Dylan Geary, said: "He says what happened on that day was not something he contemplated or intended. He understands no mother should have to go through what Zoe Cooke has had to go through."
Clive Stockwell QC, for Lewsley, said: "This is his first experience of a custodial term and we say this was a chance encounter. There was not an intention to kill."
In response, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: "I do not see this as a chance encounter."
Andrew Vout QC, for Masterson, said: "He expresses profound remorse for Byron Griffin losing his life, which he did not intend, and sorrow for the consequences of what happened that day."
Lastly, Ahmed Hossain QC, for Fairbrother, said: "He did bring a knife the the car park, there was spontaneity and a lack of planning.
"Jordan Fairbrother's partner gave birth to a child last week and there's a tragic outcome that child will grow up without their father present."
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