18 years for knife killer who stabbed friend at Leeds flats

A court heard Ashley Twist was on bail for glassing a man in the eye in a bar attack at the time he killed pal Adam Rider during the violence at a flat complex in Leeds city centre.

Twist was handed the lengthy sentence yesterday after a judge told him he posed a serious risk to the public.

Twist, 24, hid a ten-inch kitchen knife in the waistband of his shorts before thrusting the weapon into Mr Rider’s stomach.

Mr Rider died shortly after receiving the knife wound in the corridor of the Citispace apartments, Regent Street, on May 22 last year.

Leeds Crown Court heard Twist and Mr Rider spent the previous day drinking in Leeds together with another of their friends, Kane Beeston. During the evening they had taken a taxi to the Rothwell area to buy drugs before returning to the city centre. Twist went back to his flat to meet a woman and asked Mr Rider and Mr Beeston not to come back to his flat at the end of the night. But the two men turned up at Twist’s home around 3am and violence broke out between them. The court was shown CCTV footage of the fighting in the corridor, during which Mr Rider gained the upper hand. Twist returned to his flat and armed himself with the knife before using it to stab Mr Rider. He was arrested later that morning at his mother’s home. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He also admitted causing grievous bodily with intent in relation to an incident in December last year. Twist head butted a 36-year-old man before smashing a glass into his eye area during an unprovoked attack.

The victim need 15 stitches to a facial wound and is awaiting an operation after suffering a broken nose.

Mrs Justice McGowan told Twist he must serve a 14-year prison sentence followed by an extended licence period of four years. After the case, Det Chief Insp Jim Dunkerley, of West Yorkshire Police Protective Services Crime, said: “Adam Rider’s death was completely unnecessary and was the result of a violent confrontation between people who knew each other. It once again highlights the very tragic consequences of people resorting to violence, particularly involving knives and particularly when under the influence of drink and drugs.”