Stephen Riley murder: Martin Wilson jailed for Barnsley stabbing

A man who "hunted down" and killed a man who had domestically abused his partner has been jailed for at least 25 years.

Martin Wilson, 38, chased Stephen Riley, 43, through the streets before stabbing him twice.

He used such force that one blow fractured a rib and the other punctured his lung and pierced his heart, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Wilson, of Monsal Crescent, Barnsley, was convicted of murder after a trial.

Judge Roger Thomas QC, sentencing, said Wilson had been "appalled" to learn Mr Riley had kicked his pregnant partner in the stomach in the days before the stabbing.

After Mr Riley's arrest, Wilson had told police he "hoped he would get bail because he had upset a lot of people and they would be after him".

Wilson had been further upset when Mr Riley showed him intimate images of his partner.

On the night of the 26 June attack, Mr Riley had gone to Wilson's home in an apparent bid "to score drugs", the judge said.

He said the two men had argued and, after Mr Riley left, Wilson had gone after him armed with knife.

As he handed Wilson a life sentence, the judge said: "There was no sensible reason why you should choose to go back into your house, get dressed and follow him on your bike save for the fact that you were agitated by his visit and what had happened earlier in the week.

"Your suggestion in evidence that you were simply shepherding him away from the area was nonsense. He was literally running away from you as you pursued him on your bike."

He said Wilson tracked Mr Riley down in a nearby garden and stabbed him.

After the attack, Wilson called his girlfriend Julie Evans to help him dispose of the murder weapon.

Mr Riley's brother, Andrew, told the court: "So many people have lost a big part of their lives now that Stephen is no longer with us, especially his children that he will never get to meet."

Evans, 41, also of Monsal Crescent, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and will be sentenced on 21 December.

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