Macaulay Byrne murder: Man jailed for life over Sheffield pub stabbing

A man who murdered a Christmas reveller during a "shocking" pub fight in South Yorkshire has been jailed for life.

Macaulay Byrne, 26, also known as Coley, was attacked at the Gypsy Queen pub in Beighton in December 2021 as he was drinking with family and friends.

Bovic Mupolo, 21, of Fleury Rise, Sheffield, denied murder, but was found guilty on Thursday following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Mupolo was told he must serve a minimum of 18 years in prison.

During Mupolo's sentencing on Friday, the court heard that Mr Byrne had been drinking at the pub, on Drake House Lane, shortly before 21:55 GMT on 26 December.

The Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson said: "A very short burst of violence erupted at the [front] door" involving Mupolo.

A knife, brought to the pub by Mupolo, was then used to stab Mr Byrne a number of times, the court was told.

As the father-of-two lay bleeding to death, Mupolo made his escape to a friend's house in a taxi before changing clothes and then going on a night out in Sheffield city centre.

Emergency crews fought to save Mr Byrne's life in what the judge told Sheffield Crown Court was a "shocking episode".

The next day, a warrant was carried out at an address associated with Mupolo and blood-stained clothing was found there, according to police.

The judge said he believed the attack was not pre-meditated and that it could have been sparked from a racial slur said to Mupolo by other customers at the pub.

However, Judge Richardson told Mupolo that "in no way" justified what happened.

"Your intention when you did as you did was to cause really serious injury. It was not to kill Byrne," he added.

Victim impact statements were read out in court from Mr Byrne's partner, Jessica Witham, who described how her children suffered nightmares as a result of their father's death.

"They think if I leave them like their father, I will never return. I feel lost and scared. The whole family has been ripped apart," she wrote.

Mr Byrne's mother, Michelle Byrne, said she was "broken" by her son's death.

"What happened that night had shattered us forever. We dread Christmas.

"How can we ever truly celebrate that time again?" she asked.

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