Three teen thugs who murdered 'the wrong man' after hijacking a dispute which had nothing to do with them were today (Tuesday) handed life sentences.
Kane Adamson, 18, Joshua Prescott, 19, and Ben Dawber, 17, were hunting down a man who had just punched someone outside a bar in Tyldesley but then launched a sickening knife attack on the wrong person.
Thomas Williamson, 30, a man with mental health problems who was out for a walk to clear his head at the time, suffered a series of fatal stab wounds, including one that penetrated his heart and lung. He died at the scene. He was entirely innocent.
Today the three young men who launched the sickening attack were handed life sentences for murder at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.
Jailing them for life, Judge Maurice Greene told them: "The tragedy is that Thomas Williamson was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time."
In court Mr Williamson's heartbroken mother Susan slammed the lies told by Dawber, who robbed a pizza delivery driver while he was on bail for the murder. Dawber told the jury he acted in self-defence.
Mrs Williamson said of her son: "I miss Thomas so much every day."
On the night of Mr Williamson's murder on September 25, 2021, his three attackers had been looking for another man, David Shuttleworth, who had earlier that night punched another man, Jake Dinning. The trial heard Mr Shuttleworth punched Mr Dinning as he thought the latter had been 'in dispute' with his girlfriend outside Lounge Bar in Tyldesley shortly after 1am.
At the same time the three defendants, said to have been drinking vodka and inhaling nitrous oxide balloons and 'looking for trouble', were driving by the Castle Street bar, and they 'took the opportunity to involve themselves in the brewing trouble', prosecutor Jason Pitter KC told the trial.
When they pulled up, Mr Shuttleworth ran off as he believed the three men in the Chevrolet Kalos on false plates were 'associates' of the man he had just punched.
"That was too good an opportunity for the defendants to miss," said Mr Pitter, who added the men 'instructed' a 'reluctant' Mr Dinning to get into the vehicle, replacing a fourth occupant who was left on the street.
The car drove around the centre of Tyldesley 'on the hunt for Mr Shuttleworth' who hid in a nearby street, Cotton Close. At the same time, Thomas Williamson appeared and the driver, Dawber, was said to have asked 'is that him?'.
One of the occupants mistakenly replied 'yeah that's him' and the attack began.
Mr Williamson died of 'multiple stab wounds'. One stab wound entered his neck and cut into a major vein while another to his chest penetrated his lung and heart.
He had also suffered bruising to his face and cuts to his hands said to be 'consistent' with being 'defensive injuries'.
The jurors heard the victim was 'someone with a long history of mental illness which included self-harming' - the day before his fatal attack he had suffered 'another mental health crisis' where he had been drinking cider and Jack Daniels, and had threatened to take his own life.
After his mood had deteriorated, his mother recalled him punching his wardrobe before leaving the house, possibly with a kitchen knife and the bottle of Jack Daniels.
Concerned, his mother called police and the court heard the officers who had been dispatched to search for Thomas found him bleeding to death in a street near his home.
Mr Williamson's mother, Susan Williamson, in a victim impact statement read out in court, said: "I miss Thomas so much every day. He was always asking me how my day had been and to send me off to work with a 'have a good day' and to give me a hug.
"There's a hole in my life with him gone that can never be filled and our home is empty without him.... When I hear sounds coming from upstairs, my first thought is of Tom and thinking he's going to come down the stairs. It hurts every time."
She described her son as a 'loving, kind and fun and he always knew how to lift my spirits and make me laugh'.
A few months before his death, Thomas had bought a puppy who he named Bandit and he had started going to the gym, which helped with his struggles with mental health, said Mrs Williamson.
She described watching the trial unfold every day as 'excruciating and draining', particularly concerning the injuries he suffered that night. "It's something no parent should ever have to experience," she said.
Mrs Williamson went on that 'it really upset me' when she heard Dawber claim in his evidence that he had acted in self-defence, which she said 'just didn't ring true'.
She pointed to evidence from a witness who had heard someone saying: "Just let me apologise."
"Given the chance, he would just have walked away but he was never given that chance," said Mrs Williamson, adding that her son had simply gone out to 'clear his head' as he had done on other occasions. The attackers had 'shown no remorse'.
Mrs Williamson said she was relieved the three defendants were now behind bars where they could not 'cause any more heartache'. She added: "They all have a future, something they have taken away from Tom."
Two of the defendants, Dawber and Adamson, admitted an attempted robbery earlier that night. Dawber, then 16, had also been part of a robbery in Tyldesely when he and an accomplice threatened a man with a machete and kicked him for his mobile phone and cash on August 4, 2021, the month before the murder. On the same night, Dawber also robbed a pizza delivery driver at knife-point for his wallet. He repeatedly punched the driver and made off in his car.
Two months after the murder, on November 17, while he was on police bail over the killing, Dawber robbed another delivery driver, this time in Leigh
David Spence KC, defending Dawber, told the sentencing hearing: "The weight of the evidence appears to be that Mr Williamson, in order justifiably to protect himself from an intended robbery, drew the knife and then it was turned upon him."
The barrister went on that the murder had been 'spontaneous' rather than planned. He told the judge: "This was a young man in circumstances beyond his control within a short time of his birth had no parents. He was brought up by his grandparents and his grandfather was effectively his father and role model to him. When his grandfather died in 2020 he had been up to that point a man of good character and within two months he embarked upon a spree of offending. Your honour may take the view that's not a coincidence."
Michael Brady KC, representing Adamson, said Mr Williamson had been targeted because of 'mistaken identity' rather than because he was a 'lone individual', while the violence his client had used in earlier robberies was 'relatively mild'. The barrister said there had been 'clearly no premeditation' in the murder.
Steven Swift, defending Prescott, told the court his client had played a 'secondary or lesser role' in the attack, and that a lack of previous convictions showed there had been 'no pattern of similar offending'.
Judge Greene told the three defendants: "It's not clear why the three of you decided to involve yourself in a matter that didn't concern you."
He described Mr Williamson as a 'gentle soul' and he said his attackers were 'out looking for trouble that night'.
"The tragedy is that Thomas Williamson was the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
He handed all three defendants detention for life. He told Dawber he must serve a minimum 20 years behind bars before he becomes eligible for parole. Adamson, who has 12 sets of previous convictions for 22 offences including robbery, was told he must serve a minimum 18 years. The court heard he had been involved in the disposal of the car and other items following the murder.
Prescott, who had no previous convictions for violence, must serve at least 17 years in custody.
Adamson, of no fixed abode, now 19, Prescott, of Walter Street in Leigh, now 20 and Dawber, of no fixed abode, now 19, all denied murder. Dawber also admitted three counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery.
The defendants showed no reaction as the sentences were handed down, although some friends in the public gallery were in tears.
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