Manchester stabbing: Student killer jailed for manslaughter

A man who stabbed a university student to death as he was on his way home from a party has been jailed.

Shiloh Pottinger attacked Luke O'Connor, 19, with a flick knife in Fallowfield, Manchester, in October, after the latter's friend made a passing joke.

Pottinger, 20, of no fixed address, denied murder and manslaughter but was found guilty of the lesser charge by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

He was sentenced to 15 years.

Mr O'Connor, a Manchester Metropolitan University student, was found with stab wounds on Wilmslow Road at about 02:00 BST on 26 October and died a short time later in hospital.

He was described in court as the "perfect son", with his mum Caroline saying he was "popular beyond belief".

She fought back tears as she read her victim impact statement in court and said her son had paid the "ultimate price" for standing up to his killer.

Mr O'Connor's father, Jason, said his "whole world was completely shattered into pieces" and he would "never get over the loss of Luke".

The jury was shown CCTV footage of Pottinger brandishing a knife before hitting Mr O'Connor with his skateboard. He later stabbed him eight times before running off.

Judge Nicholas Dean KC described Mr O'Connor as a "gentle giant" and said "one of his qualities was that he stood up to bullies".

He told Pottinger, who was a music student at British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM), he had "told many lies" during the trial including the claim he had bought the knife "as a tool" for applying tape to skateboards.

The defendant had shown "no remorse" and even tried to blame the victim for the attack, the judge said, adding: "A stiletto knife is an out-and-out weapon."

The court heard Pottinger threatened Mr O'Connor, originally from Bedford, after a "jocular remark" made by one of Mr O'Connor friends as he passed by.

The judge said the remark was "perhaps irritating but it certainly wasn't intimidating and still less threatening."

"You were not surrounded - you were offended by the fact [Mr O'Connor] was not cowed by your threats or your violence," he said, adding that Pottinger had been given "a sense of empowerment" by carrying the knife.

He said the jury found he lacked the intention that would otherwise have made him guilty of murder.

Det Sgt Laura Murray said: "Luke was just 19 years old when he was stabbed and killed on his way home. His parents have gone through something that no parent should have to go through.

"Had Shiloh Pottinger not been carrying a knife that night, then Luke would not have died. This case shows very clearly the tragic consequences that come from carrying knives."

Shortly after Mr O'Connor's death, Manchester Metropolitan University said it was a "terrible shock to our whole community".

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