A teen killer who stabbed a stranger in the street and left him to die has been sentenced to life in prison. Klayton Skelly knifed Dylan Keelan twice in the chest after they got into an altercation outside the Premier Dreams convenience store, in Dukinfield, on the night of February 4.
The defendant, then aged 17, took off running from the scene and left Dylan, 20, bleeding on the ground, Manchester Evening News reports. Skelly’s two friends, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had taken part in the three-on-one before the knife was pulled.
The pair then briefly stayed and tried to help the victim when they realised Skelly had stabbed him, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Following the incident, one of them called the defendant and said: “Please tell me you didn’t stab him,” with Skelly replying: “I did, for f*** sake, it was minor, once in the arm."
Prosecution barrister Rob Hall told the court that Dylan had been at a party and visited the Premier Dreams convenience store, on Cheetham Hill Road, along with his friend to buy more drinks. When they left, Skelly and his friends were heading inside and CCTV footage played to the court appeared to show a minor brushing of shoulders between Dylan and Skelly as they walked past each other.
They turned to face each other and the court heard that Dylan asked Skelly: “What are you looking at, you got a problem?” Skelly responded: “What, you stupid, you want a fight?”
The pair then start to fight and Skelly pulled a combat knife, with a 26cm serrated blade, from his waistband. Dylan threw punches towards Skelly and tried to put his shopping bag between them.
During the brawl, Skelly dropped his knife and his two friends joined in to start attacking Dylan as well, although they later told police that they had initially got involved to split it up. Both of Skelly’s friends continued to punch and kick Dylan, which allowed Skelly to pick up his knife.
After threatening to stab Dylan’s friend unless he ran away, Skelly swung the knife towards Dylan twice and caused two wounds to his chest. One of the blows was so forceful that it caused Dylan’s body to turn. He collapsed and died moments later.
After running away, Skelly hid the knife in undergrowth before returning home, Mr Hall told the court. It was three days later, after being confronted by his family, that Skelly handed himself into police - he also handed in his blood-stained clothes and told officers where he had dumped the knife.
Skelly, now 18, pleaded guilty to murder on July 15 - the last working day before his scheduled trial. His two friends, both 16, were sentenced to 12 month referral orders at the youth court.
Defending Skelly, of Sylvester Way, Hyde, Mark Rhind KC described the incident as a ‘moment of madness’ and said: “On any view what Klayton Skelly did was a grotesque overreaction to the most trivial meaningless coming together.”
The court heard that Skelly had been exploited by county lines drug dealing gangs since he was 15 and when interviewed, told police that he carried a knife ‘for protection’. When his phone was examined by police, it was discovered that Skelly’s mother and sister had tried to talk him out of carrying a weapon, with one text from his mum reading: “I don’t want to lose you but if this carries on you’re going to end up dead or in prison.”
Mr Rhind said that Skelly has remorse for killing Dylan, which he claimed was shown by his cooperation with the investigation and his guilty plea. He described Skelly’s guilty plea as a “brave and extraordinary step” and said: “It is extremely rare that anyone pleads guilty to murder.”
Judge Maurice Greene sentenced Skelly to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 17 years. Dylan’s family and friends applauded and cheered after the sentence was delivered, which led to a heated exchange across the courtroom between them and Skelly’s loved ones. After the hearing, Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Chadwick held a press conference outside court. He said: “I hope that the length of the sentence acts as some kind of deterrent to the people who carry knives in Greater Manchester.
“Dylan was stabbed two weeks before his 21st birthday. First and foremost, today is about Dylan and the kind of person he was; it’s about his life, his friends and family, and being able to celebrate who he was.
“I’m so sorry we can’t bring him back and can’t fix it but I hope today brings some sort of closure.”
He added: “GMP don’t underestimate the impact and fear of knife crime in our communities. We work really hard but it’s clearly not enough - I wouldn’t be here and Dylan would be around, a young man wouldn’t have been killed in Fallowfield in the early hours of yesterday morning if we were doing enough.”
Detective Inspector Lee Shaw, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “The thoughts of everyone on the investigation team remain with Dylan’s loved ones. No sentence could fix their broken hearts but it is our hope that today’s result gives them a sense of justice and closure.
“Across Greater Manchester, officers are working hard to fight, prevent and reduce knife crime. With Dylan’s mum’s blessing, we have released body worn video audio from the night of his death to show the reality of responding to a stabbing and to encourage parents and guardians to talk to young people about the consequences – for victims, offenders and their loved ones.
“I would like to use this opportunity to thank the members of the public and first responders who did everything they could to save Dylan’s life. Also, the officers who were first on scene and assisted detectives with bringing this case to court and securing this outcome.”
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