A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 14 years for the “utterly senseless” murder of Ian Kirwan, who was stabbed outside a supermarket after confronting a group of teenagers over their behaviour.
Kirwan, 53, a software engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, died on 8 March last year after a confrontation with five boys outside an Asda store in Redditch.
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was sentenced at Birmingham crown court on Wednesday. Judge Frasersaid: “Mr Kirwan’s murder is a tragedy and so utterly senseless it defies description. It is also a stark reminder – if society were to need one – of the danger of young people carrying knives with them as a matter of routine.”
The 15-year-old stood trial with four other teenagers. Two aged 14 and one aged 16 were acquitted of murder and manslaughter but found guilty of violent disorder, while another 16-year-old was acquitted of all charges.
The three convicted of violent disorder were given youth rehabilitation orders.
The court heard that the five were part of a larger group of 11 youths who “terrorised” the public as they travelled from Birmingham to Redditch by train, with train cameras showing one boy carrying a knife.
In a victim personal statement read to court on Wednesday, Kirwan’s wife, Lyndsey Blythe, said: “Ian was my rock, my soulmate, my husband. Ian didn’t deserve to die.”
The prosecutor, Benjamin Aina KC, told the court that the group travelled to a nearby Asda with their hoods up and faces covered, where five went to the supermarket toilets and banged on Kirwan’s cubicle door.
Kirwan approached the group on his way to the car and said words to the effect of: “Which one of you was fucking around in the toilet?”
“A scuffle broke out and during that scuffle Kirwan was stabbed once to his heart with a knife and he died before getting to the hospital,” Aina said.
The judge said: “I find all Mr Kirwan did outside the supermarket, when the defendants were by the trolleys, was to admonish them for their trouble-making and antisocial behaviour in the lavatories.”
He said Kirwan stepped back into the Asda store after being stabbed and died on the floor of the supermarket a short time later, despite the best efforts of the public and paramedics to save him.
One member of the group attempted to follow Kirwan into the shop before rejoining the rest of the group who were running towards the train station.
Fraser said Kirwan was an “unfortunate member of the public in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
In a statement released after Kirwan’s death, his family described him as “the warmest, kindest man who loved his family and friends dearly”.
They said: “Ian had the warmest, silliest, daftest sense of humour that you couldn’t help loving and laughing at. He brought great comfort to those around him and gave the best bear hugs that made you feel safe, protected and loved.”
