Michaela Hague: Sheffield murder victim's son jailed after carrying out crime spree across city

While the individual responsible for murdering Michaela Hague in a frenzied knife attack at a Sheffield car wash on Bonfire Night 2001 may still be at liberty some 21 years later, her 26-year-old son, Caine Holmes, has now been put behind bars for multiple offences including robberies and a burglary, all of which were committed in Sheffield between September and November 2022.

During a January 5 hearing, prosecuting barrister, Zaiban Alam, told Sheffield Crown Court how Holmes’ first offence was carried out at around 5.45pm on September 5 when he targeted a motorist who had just returned to his car – which was parked near to Victoria Quays, Sheffield city centre – opening the door to the motorist’s Volkswagen Polo shortly after he put the keys in the ignition.

Summarising the facts of the case, the judge, Recorder Richard Thyne KC, told Holmes: “You told him to get out, and punched him twice...you punched him again, knocking his glasses off, and threatened to stab him, although no weapon was produced, and dragged him out of the car.”

The court heard how after the motorist ‘begged’ for his work laptop which was located in the car, Holmes threw it out the window before speeding off in the vehicle.

In a statement read to the court, the motorist said the ordeal had resulted in him feeling anxious about ‘walking alone,’ even during the day; and had also left him at a financial loss due to his insurance premiums increasing by more than double after he lost his no-claims-bonus as a result of the incident.

Holmes struck again on Ball Road, Hillsborough, in the early hours of September 24, when he burgled one property and attempted to raid a second, located a few doors down.

Ms Alam described how Holmes was ‘scared off’ in each of the incidents by an occupant who was present when he broke in. At one of the properties, Holmes still managed to make off with three electronic tablets, a Mac computer, a Xbox console and a Ford Focus car containing scooters and other items belonging to children living at the family home, who were awoken by their father ‘screaming’ at Holmes after coming face-to-face with him on the landing, Ms Alam told the court.

In a victim impact statement, the occupier who confronted Holmes described how his children have been left in fear following the burglary, needing to sleep in their mother’s bed and frequently suffering from nightmares. He also detailed how both his parents, and his wife’s parents, currently require care, and due to being unable to afford a replacement vehicle, their ability to look after both sets of parents has been significantly restricted. He said the loss of their vehicle has also meant they have found keeping up with their children’s various engagements extremely difficult and have had to cancel some of them as a consequence of the burglary.

Holmes fled the scene without stealing anything from the second property.

However, the occupier, who lives alone, described in a statement how the attempted burglary has had both a psychological and a financial impact on her, adding that not only has she been left £200 out of pocket due to paying the excess on her insurance policy, but she also spent ‘weeks’ cleaning up broken glass and suffered an injury when one of the shards became embedded in her foot.

Ms Alam said Holmes committed his final offence, which led to his eventual arrest, just after 1.30am on November 12, when he jumped out from behind a billboard located at the junction of London Road and Chesterfield Road and stole a bicycle from a cyclist after threatening her.

Holmes told the cyclist: “Give me your f*****g bike or I’ll box your face,” the court heard.

After initially attempting to reason with Holmes, the cyclist handed over her bike and called the police after he fled, before making her way home on foot. Officers were dispatched to the scene, and Holmes was found cycling down London Road on the stolen bike. Ms Alam described how upon seeing police arrive, Holmes ran on to Myrtle Road and jumped down a 20-foot drop to end up in the river. She said this decision put police officers ‘at risk’ as they jumped in the river after him, and Recorder Thyne described how he was eventually caught with the assistance of a police dog.

The cyclist provided a statement to the court, in which she said Holmes’ threats left her feeling ‘terrified,’ adding that she ‘broke down in tears’ after considering the impact the incident was likely to have on her family when she relayed what had happened to them.

Holmes pleaded guilty to offences including two robberies, burglary, attempted burglary, driving while disqualified and theft at earlier hearings.

Defending, Joy Merriam, told the court Holmes has endured a ‘troubled upbringing’ after his mother, Ms Hague, was stabbed to death when he was just five-years-old, adding that her attacker has never been caught.

Ms Merriam said Holmes formed a relationship with his former partner when he was 16, going on to have have two children with her. The relationship came to an end and he was kicked out of the family home, after a cocaine addiction led to him accruing a drug debt resulting ‘people coming to the home and threatening him,’ Ms Merriam said, adding that Holmes’ offending came about as a result of his debt.

She continued by telling the court that this led to Holmes turning to ‘drink,’ and says he has ‘no memory’ of his offending, which meant he had to plead guilty to all of the charges he faced on a ‘full facts basis’.

“He would say he’s quite surprised at the suggestion he would threaten to stab someone, because of his abhorrence of knife crime because of what happened to his mother and his friend, Reece Radford,” Ms Merriam said, referring to the fatal stabbing of Mr Radford in an incident on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre on September 29, 2022. Mr Radford died days later on October 4, 2022, aged 26.

“He wanted me to say on his behalf that he apologises wholeheartedly to the victims. He knows he faces a substantial period of imprisonment...he wants to tell the court, through me, that he wants to turn his life around,” Ms Merriam said.

Recorder Thyne jailed Holmes for seven years and told him: “Your mother was tragically stabbed to death many years ago in a crime that has never been solved, and I have heard of the impact this has had on you.”

He also disqualified Holmes from driving for 65 months.

Michaela was 25, a year younger than her son is now, when she was knifed in her back and neck on Bonfire Night 2001. While families across the city were enjoying firework displays, Michaela was being stabbed on a car park by a man who had picked her up while she was working as a prostitute.

More than 21 years later, the murder remains unsolved, with her killer still potentially walking the streets. She was picked up by a man in a car on Bower Street, off Corporation Street, and was driven to a dark, secluded car park nearby – opposite a pub known then as The Manchester, but which is now The Harlequin.

An old-style blue Ford Sierra was seen driving away from where Michaela’s body was discovered by another sex worker, who raised the alarm.

PC Richard Twigg was the first police officer to arrive at the crime scene and Michaela managed to pass on some information about her attacker, including a description, which the police officer jotted down on his hand as he tended to her before she was rushed to the Northern General Hospital, where she died three hours later.

Michaela, of Lopham Street, Pitsmoor, told the police officer that her attacker was white, clean-shaven and wore a wedding ring. He was around 38 years old, 6ft tall and was wearing a blue fleece and glasses. A police E-fit was later produced in the hope that he would be recognised but detectives have never identified the killer.

Appeals for information about the murderer were made on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme at the time in case he was from elsewhere in the country and may have only been travelling through the city on the night of the fatal stabbing. Michaela worked as a prostitute to fund a heroin habit. She had started working on the streets just six months earlier, an inquest into her death heard. She was described as a ‘lovely, beautiful daughter’.

The murder investigation into the death of Reece Radford

Reece Radford was just 26-years-old when he passed away on October 4, 2022 – less than a week after being stabbed on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre in the early hours of Thursday, September 29. A post-mortem examination concluded that he died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest.

While Reece was fighting for his life in hospital, Dereck Owusu, 36, of Strathmore Grove, Rotherham and Louis James, 46, of Manor Lane, which runs between City Road and Sheffield Parkway, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court charged with attempted murder on October 1.

Reece's death is being treated as murder.