The five killers convicted or jailed for murder over last month for Sheffield knife attacks that shocked city

Sheffield communities were left in shock after each one of the three stabbings, which took place on the city’s streets between July 2021 and September 2022.

It can take just seconds to inflict a fatal knife wound, but the families of both the victim and the individual responsible for the attack will be forced to live with the consequences for years, if not decades.

All of the five killers convicted of murder relating to three fatal Sheffield stabbings sought to deny responsibility for their crimes, but were found guilty by a jury of their peers, at the conclusion of trials held at Sheffield Crown Court. Four of the five individuals were found guilty over the last month, while a 17-year-old boy, Boe Barton, was found guilty of murder at the conclusion of a trial in June 2022.

April 5, 2023: Derek Owusu and Louis James found guilty of murdering Reece Radford

Reece Radford was just 26-years-old when he suffered a fatal stab wound through his chest and heart, during an altercation that took place on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre in the early hours of September 29, 2022. He died less than a week later on October 4, 2022.

Jurors found Louis James, aged 47, of Manor Lane, Sheffield, and Dereck Owusu, aged 39, of Strathmore Grove, at Wath-upon-Dearne, near Rotherham guilty of Mr Radford’s murder on Wednesday afternoon (April 5, 2023), following eight hours and three minutes of deliberation.

“There is only one sentence I can pass, and that is one of life imprisonment,” Judge Sarah Wright told the killer duo, adding that she will fix the minimum custodial term they will each serve during a hearing scheduled to take place on May 5, 2023.

James and Owusu, who remained silent throughout, were remanded into custody until then.

Speaking after the guilty verdicts were returned, DCI Rebecca Hodgman, senior investigating officer in the case, said: “Owusu and James had been out drinking that night. Just before 1am, they were on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre when they bumped into a teenage girl they knew, sitting at a bus stop.

“The three of them began sharing some alcohol. Shortly after 2.20am, a violent altercation occurred and Owusu punched the 17-year-old girl in the face.

“Reece Radford, who had been out with a group of friends that night, witnessed this assault and stepped in to help this young girl.”

The court heard Reece approached the group and intervened to help the teenager, punching Owusu in the face.

DCI Hodgman continued: “As a result, a fight broke out between the defendants and Reece. The three ended up in the road, and Reece fell to the floor where he was subjected to a barrage of kicks from both men.

“Then the assault abruptly ended. Reece crossed the road and collapsed on the other side. He had been stabbed in the chest.”

DCI Hodgman added: “I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Reece’s family. To lose a loved one in such tragic circumstances has been devastating. I hope today’s verdict will provide some comfort as they rebuild their lives without Reece.

“Throughout their trial Owusu and James have both claimed they had no idea how Reece came to be stabbed during that fight. The jury saw through those lies.”

Thursday, March 31, 2023: Richard Sampson found guilty of murdering Anthony Sumner

Anthony Sumner, a ‘loved’ son, brother, dad, grandad and grandson, suffered fatal injuries after being stabbed and attacked with a machete during a violent assault carried out on Windy Lane in the Manor area of Sheffield on July 29, 2021.

Mr Sumner’s waited 20 long months for his killers to be brought to justice, and were present in court on Friday, March 31, 2023 when Richard Sampson, aged 50, of Prince of Wales Road, near Woodthorpe, Sheffield and a 17-year-old boy were sentenced for his murder.

Judge Peter Kelson KC jailed Sampson for life, to serve a minimum of 28 years.

Minutes before sending a 17-year-old to begin 18 years’ custody at His Majesty’s pleasure for the murder of 42-year-old Anthony Sumner, Judge Kelson granted The Star’s request to lift a legal restriction protecting his identity, allowing us to name him as Boe Barton, of south east Sheffield.

Barton, now aged 17, and his co-accused, Richard Sampson, went on trial accused of Mr Sumner’s murder in June 2022. However, a reporting restriction placed on the case under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 has meant that, up until now, it has not been possible to reveal Barton’s identity, even after he was found guilty of Mr Sumner’s murder at the conclusion of his trial in June 2022.

While jurors were able to reach a verdict for Barton, they failed to do so in the case of Sampson, aged 50, of Prince of Wales Road, near Woodthorpe, Sheffield. Prosecutors successfully sought a retrial for Sampson and it was decided that Barton would be sentenced at the conclusion of Sampson’s second trial, and the application arguing his identity should be revealed would be considered at the same time.

Sampson’s second trial got underway at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday, March 30, 2023. A jury of six men and six women found Sampson guilty of Mr Sumner’s murder on Thursday, March 30, 2023, after 25 hours and 55 minutes of deliberation.

In a moving statement read to the court during the sentencing hearing, Mr Sumner’s mother said: “This was heartbreaking, my children should be the ones burying me, not me burying my son.”

She continued: “I can’t believe my son’s life was taken in this brutal way…my Anthony was no angel, but he had a heart of gold, and would not hurt anyone.”

Sheffield Crown Court was told how the attack on Mr Sumner was carried out by the boy and Sampson, with Sampson armed with a machete, while the boy wielded a knife. The pair cornered a defenceless Mr Sumner in a garden, and set about inflicting the knife wounds that ultimately cost him his life.

Sending the pair to custody, Judge Peter Kelson KC said: “The circumstances and ferocity of this attack were both savage and cowardly.

He continued: “I’m satisfied, on the evidence, that you set out to find Anthony Sumner that night, you followed him for a period of time…this was an ambush.”

Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 17-year-old Yaqeen Arshad found guilty of murdering Richard Dentith

Richard Dentith was found unconscious on Grimesthorpe Road, Burngreave, at around 2.50am on Thursday, April 7, 2022 and pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination subsequently concluded Richard, fondly known as ‘Ricky,’ had died of a single stab wound.

Yaqeen Arshad, aged 17, of De La Salle Drive, Pitsmoor, Sheffield went on trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of Ricky’s murder in February 2023, and a jury found him guilty of the shocking crime on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

During a March 20, 2023 sentencing hearing Judge Sarah Wright told Arshad he must serve a minimum of 14 years at His Majesty’s Pleasure for Mr Dentith’s murder. She also lifted a reporting restriction protecting Arshad’s identity, following an application from the Sheffield Star, during the same hearing.

Describing the circumstances of the confrontation, Judge Wright told Arshad: “31-year-old Richard Dentith walked past you as you and your friend stood in a bus shelter on Grimesthorpe Road and continued down the hill...For some reason as Richard Dentith made his way down the hill you pursued him, running after him armed with a knife.

“The CCTV from the mosque on Grimesthorpe Road showed that you appear to lunge at Richard Dentith as he disappeared behind a pillar. You clearly deliberately thrust the knife into and indeed through his arm possibly then making contact with his chest. He ran away pursued by you down the hill.

“He fell and you overshot, but then turned round and you continued to try to attack him. He managed to get by you but had been fatally injured. He collapsed on steps outside the Earl Marshall Guest House. The stab wound to the arm had severed the brachial artery and cut part of the cartilage and so would have required at least moderate force. He suffered catastrophic blood loss from the wound and he bled to death.”

Gut-wrenching statements from Mr Dentith’s father, Alan, and his former partner, Nicole Flannery, with whom he has a young son, that were read to the court during the course of the March 20 hearing at Sheffield Crown Court laid bare the devastating consequences his death continues to have.

Ms Flannery said their child continues to have nightmares and has started to sleepwalk in response to learning he will never see his father again, and is about to mark his first birthday without him.

Paying tribute to his son, Alan Dentith said in a statement: “Ricky had many obstacles to overcome in his life and he struggled at times. However, he was to us, first and foremost, a much-loved son, brother and father. He had three main loves in his life, his young son, sport, and cooking delicious food. He was hard working, a caring father, skilled sportsman and a talented chef.”

Alan Dentith also stated that he takes ‘no comfort’ in Arshad being at court to answer for his son’s death, because it means another man’s life has been lost and his family too have been left in turmoil.

Judge Wright referred to a report prepared by Consultant Psychologist, Graham Rogers, in which he concluded that Arshad has a borderline disorder of intellectual development with a specific focus on inconsistent understanding of language.

She told him: “You function at an age much younger than your chronological age. The results of his tests showed a level of functioning at or below the level of the average child aged eight years.

“That indicates that you function in a similar manner to a child in an infant school where reasoning, problem solving and decision-making will be severely impaired when compared to the ‘normal range’ of age appropriate peers. He concludes that this leaves you open to exploitation and vulnerable to the attentions of others.”