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Christmas without Daddy... but I cannot let my two boys down
THE three murderers of father-of-two Kevin Jackson are today beginning life sentences, as his devastated widow and young sons face their first Christmas without him since their lives were cruelly shattered.
Mr Jackson, 31, was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver on December 30 last year, after he confronted the three who were trying to steal his father-in-law's Toyota RAV4 car in Halifax.
He was found unconscious and bleeding in the snow, and died in hospital two days later on New Year's Day.
In a statement yesterday, his widow, Julie, said: "I have two boys who still believe in Christmas and even though I cannot bear the thought of doing it without their daddy, I cannot let them down."
Mrs Jackson could not face being in Leeds Crown Court as the third defendant, Rashad Zaman, was convicted by an 11-1 majority of the jury of the murder of her husband. All three were given life sentences for what the trial judge called "a cowardly and horrific act".
Afterwards in a statement she said waiting for the verdicts had been the equivalent of waiting for her husband's life-support machine to be switched off. "It has been like watching my husband die all over again."
Sentencing the killers, the judge, Mr Justice Jackson said they had gone on an expedition that night with the purpose of stealing a valuable car, and were in the process of doing so when Kevin Jackson tried to catch them.
"Mr Jackson was not prepared to let you get away with this offence. You outnumbered him three to one, you fought with him and killed him.
"Mr Jackson was unarmed. To stab him through the head with a screwdriver was a cowardly and horrific act."
He said car thefts were a widespread problem, causing not only massive inconvenience and financial loss, but "when thieves like you are confronted by the car owner there is the prospect of a tragic outcome, as sadly happened in this case".
The judge expressed his condolence to the victim's family for their loss.
He also excused the jurors from jury service for the next 10 years and commended the police and forensic science team involved in the inquiry for their competence and professionalism.
Raees Khan, 21, of Priestman Street, Manningham, Bradford, who was unanimously found guilty by the jury of murdering Mr Jackson, of Lower Skircoat Green, Halifax, was jailed for life. He had admitted attempting to steal the RAV4 and was found guilty of an attempted burglary at a house at Cottingley, near Bingley, with intent to steal keys to an Audi car, for which he was sentenced to a concurrent total of three years.
Zaman, of Apsley Crescent, Manningham, was jailed for life for the murder, with a total of four years to run concurrently on five charges of stealing cars, the attempted theft of the RAV4 and the attempted burglary at Cottingley.
Rangzaib Akhtar, 20, of Salt Street, Manningham, convicted of murder by a 10-2 majority of the jury, was also given custody for life. He was sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institution, to run concurrently, after admitting attempting to steal the RAV4, stealing a car on Christmas Day last year, the attempted burglary at Cottingley and wounding another inmate while on remand. The jury was discharged from reaching a verdict on another car-theft charge.
Simon Phillips, prosecuting, said while on remand at Northallerton Young Offender Institution, Akhtar struck Shaun Walker, 20, with a flask holding scalding water, during an education lesson.
The flask broke, cutting his cheek to the bone, and leaving Mr Walker scarred for life.
The jury heard only about that offence after they returned their verdicts.
During the six-week trial they were told that, after a night out with his brother-in-law, Mr Jackson fell asleep on the settee, still dressed.
Shortly after 2am on December 30 his wife was woken by a scraping noise outside, and from her bedroom window noticed fresh snow had been removed from the windscreens of her car and another vehicle parked nearby in Cow Lane.
She then saw a man sitting in the driver's seat of her father's Toyota, fiddling with something below the steering wheel, and shouted at him out of the window.
Mrs Jackson described how she ran downstairs and alerted her husband, who put on some shoes and ran out.
Moments later he was found lying face down, bleeding, in the road by a passing taxi driver.
A pathologist found the weapon used to stab Mr Jackson through the skull had penetrated several inches into his brain.
Khan accepted he was the man who broke into the Toyota car. He said Akhtar was keeping watch and suddenly shouted to him to run, and Mr Jackson then chased them both.
He said Mr Jackson caught him, and during the struggle he "poked" him with the screwdriver. He denied he stabbed him forcefully with it.
His counsel, Michael Harrison QC, said Khan had a very low IQ which placed him in the bottom one per cent of the population. His actions were not premeditated, but happened during a violent struggle when he was scared, after he had tried to get away from Mr Jackson.
Roger Thomas QC, for Akhtar, said he had left home and drifted into bad company after becoming unsettled with his family's traditional Muslim values. Since he could not drive, his involvement was usually as a lookout.
Abdul Iqbal, for Zaman, who told police he was waiting for the other two in his car when the chase involving Mr Jackson took place, said his conviction was devastating for his family.
After the case, Det Supt Bob Bridgestock said: "None of them have shown any remorse. People like these need removing from our streets, which is, thankfully, what has happened today.
"Those who resort to using violence need to realise the punishment they will receive for doing so.
"The one comment which will always remain with me was the one made by Kevin's wife, Julie, at a Press conference last January. She said that she had had to take her son, Jake, to hospital to kiss daddy goodbye, because he wasn't coming home. She told Jake that daddy was a hero."
olwen.dudgeon@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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