A South Shields mum helped her boyfriend to remain on the run after he murdered his own brother.
David Rogers stabbed his brother Thomas with a knife on August 22, 2020. A court heard how the stabbing occurred following an ongoing feud in the Rogers family that involved all of the brothers.
Rogers returned back to his native area of Tyneside, after stabbing his brother in Birmingham. He arrived back at about 10.30pm and stayed the night with Kimberley Marcinkiw, 34.
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Birmingham Live reports how the mum-of-three, who lived above a pub where she worked, provided Rogers with clothing and a Sim card.
Rogers was found inside a tent and later convicted of murder. He was sentenced to a minimum term of 18 years in September 2021.
Marcinkiw, of Orchid Close, South Shields, South Tyneside, previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender. She has now been put behind bars for 18 months.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how Marcinkiw made a number of calls to four different hotels and Rogers stayed at one of them. Marcinkiw had also taken a taxi to Rogers's mother's home where she picked up a carrier bag of clothes. Rogers was seen walking from the exit of the hotel the following day.
During her sentencing hearing, Judge Francis Laird KC told Marcinkiw: "At that point you were aware that David Rogers had stabbed his brother and that he was, in effect, on the run."
The court heard how Marcinkiw was later spoken to by a police officer and lied to him claiming not to have seen her boyfriend and said she did not have her phone with her. Judge Laird said this was also a lie and if she had handed it over it would have revealed the contact she had had with him.
The judge said the officer had given the defendant a "warning" not to have any contact with him or help him in any way and that he had committed an extremely serious offence.
However she chose to reject that warning and got a friend to give her a lift to Hexham in Northumberland. She picked up a carrier bag on the way, met Rogers and they kissed and cuddled for around 10 minutes.
Marcinkiw also bought a power charger to charge up a phone and a sim card which she gave to her boyfriend.
The judge said: "When you embarked on that journey to Hexham you were aware that David Rogers was on the run and wanted for murder."
Rogers was eventually found on August 27 in a camping place in a wooded area. Packaging from the sim card, which Marcinkiw had given him, was found.
Gavin Doig, defending, said the assistance she gave her boyfriend was not designed to help him evade capture permanently. She said both she and his mother were concerned for his welfare wanted him to hand himself in.
He added that Rogers only received the sim card a few hours before his arrest.
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