Six convicted over Derby stabbing murder of 21-year-old Dale Martin

A jury found one man guilty of murder and five others guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Dale Martin on Stenson Road, Derby. Sentencing is set for 2 October.

Gang convicted over fatal knife ambush on Derby man Dale Martin

Six men have been convicted in connection with the killing of 21-year-old Dale Martin, who was stabbed to death on Stenson Road in Derby in June, derbytelegraph.co.uk reports.

Following a four-month trial, a jury deliberated for more than two weeks before returning its verdicts. Jayden Mannion-Roberts, 26, of Tennyson Street, Allenton, was found guilty of murder — on what happened to be his birthday. Keenan Hamblett, Ki Grant-Finlayson, Kayin Holmes, Kelci Thompson and Shaylon McCalla were each convicted of manslaughter.

Martin, known to family and friends as DJ, was killed at around 11.46pm on Sunday, 15 June, at the intersection of Stenson Road and Oakland Avenue in Derby.

Prosecutor Adrian Langdale KC, opening the trial in Loughborough in May, described the killing as "a brutal pre-planned ambush" rather than a random act of violence. "This murder was the culmination of a war of retribution which had broken out between two rival groups," he told the court.

The prosecution said the group, all wearing balaclavas, travelled to the Stenson Road area and surrounded a Renault Megane containing Martin, which they attacked with weapons. Martin was dragged from the car and attempted to flee before being surrounded and stabbed multiple times.

Langdale told the jury: "Dale Martin was attacked as part of an organised, armed, deliberate and targeted retribution, following a series of more minor tit-for-tat incidents that day and seemingly before. He did not deserve to be chased down, surrounded and brutally attacked by these defendants armed with numerous knives, swords and Rambo knives and subjected to a frenzied and murderous attack."

The prosecution acknowledged that Martin was "not by any means whiter than white" and was a member of a gang based in the Sinfin area of Derby, while maintaining that nothing justified the attack carried out against him.

Detective Sergeant Chris Wright, the Senior Investigating Officer, said after the verdicts: "Dale Martin lost his life in a brutal, sustained, and planned attack. They set out that night, armed with knives and with the intent to kill Dale — with those words 'kill him, kill him' shouted at the scene of the murder."

Wright added: "His family now knows who is responsible for his death and, while nothing will take away the trauma of losing a son, brother, and friend in such a way, they will now see those responsible face the consequences of their actions."

The six defendants are due to be sentenced on 2 October. Mannion-Roberts, 26, is of Tennyson Street, Allenton; Hamblett, 27, of Osmaston Park Road, Allenton; Grant-Finlayson, 23, of Langley Road, Spondon; Holmes, 25, of Nightingale Road, Osmaston; Thompson, 19, of Osmaston Road, Derby; and McCalla, 27, of Copes Way, Chaddesden.

Not guilty verdicts were returned for Carlus Grant-Finlayson, 18, of Addison Road, Derby, who had faced a murder charge, as well as for John Sylvester, 21, Asha Waddilove, 22, and Bridget Hamblett, 58, who had each been charged with assisting an offender.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)