Ryan Kirkpatrick murder: Killers Kane Hull and Liam Porter jailed

Two killers who murdered man on a night out and then fled the UK have been jailed.

Ryan Kirkpatrick, 24, was repeatedly stabbed by a masked attacker in front of horrified crowds at a bar in Carlisle on 18 September 2021.

Kane Hull, 29, and Liam Porter, 33, had denied murder but jurors at Carlisle Crown Court found them guilty.

They were both jailed for life, with Hull sentenced to at least 28 years and Porter at least 26 years.

The trial heard there had been an altercation between Hull and Mr Kirkpatrick 15 minutes before the stabbing in which the killer tried to assault his victim with a glass.

Hull, of no fixed address, returned to the bar in Carlyle's Court wearing a balaclava and stabbed Mr Kirkpatrick while Porter, of Fulmar Place in the city, helped plan the attack in a "team murder" and was also at the scene.

There had been "bad blood" between the three men after Hull was jailed in 2018 for affray and possessing an offensive weapon after Mr Kirkpatrick was chased into a betting shop and attacked, the court had heard.

Hull and Porter were arrested in the Republic of Ireland 10 days after the murder having used fake names and stolen cars with false plates to travel first to Scotland and then by ferry to Northern Ireland.

They were tracked down at a holiday home in Carracastle, County Mayo - with Hull found hiding in an attic - and extradited back to England.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Ch Supt Mick Bird, of Cumbria Police, described the killing as a "shocking attack that robbed a young man of his life".

He said the resulting investigation was "one of the most significant and resource-intensive" the force had carried out in recent years

"This was a planned attack which intended to cause serious injury and those responsible then left this young man to die while they fled the country."

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