Killer will serve 22 years in jail after stabbing a man through the heart in West Yorkshire after a "petty and pointless" argument

Jake Wilkinson was found guilty of murdering Casey Badhams, also 21, after he knifed him in broad daylight close to a children’s play area in Halifax last year.

During a month-long trial, Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecuting, described how Wilkinson had been drinking alcohol and using cocaine on the night of the attack.

The jury heard how the two men had met up during a “chance meeting” in the early hours, but an argument had started between them after they exchanged insults.

Wilkinson had later armed himself with a large knife from his partner’s home in Halifax, before going onto stab Mr Badhams, the court heard.

In a moving victim impact statement, Mr Badhams' mother Samina Kershaw told the court her son “never stood a chance” against Wilkinson.

She said: "I miss his smile so much. Casey never stood a chance, as we now know, it was a single blow that pierced his heart. I hope [this] sentence deters others from carrying a knife and stops other families going through what we went through.”

The jury were earlier shown CCTV footage of Wilkinson getting out of his partner’s car on Myrtle Avenue, in Halifax, just before 9am on August 7, 2021.

He then headed towards Mr Badhams who was with a friend.

As Wilkinson ran off, Mr Badhams collapsed to the ground and despite the efforts of passers-by and the emergency services, he died from his injury.

During his evidence to the jury, Wilkinson had claimed that Mr Badhams threatened to “shank” him and come to his house and kill him.

He described feeling scared and confused and said he had got the knife to confront Mr Badhams about what he had said.

Wilkinson claimed he panicked and was trying to keep Mr Badhams away with the knife when he stabbed him.

But after the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the murder charge, Judge Jonathan Rose said the attack had been a pre-planned act of revenge.

He told Wilkinson: "You instigated and initiated the violence. You sought out that violence and you were the cause of it."

Judge Rose said there had been a "petty and pointless" argument following an exchange of insults, but Mr Badhams had walked away and considered the argument was at an end.

He said Wilkinson's attempt during the trial to paint the victim as a man of violence had been rejected by the jury.

Barrister Mark Rhind QC, for Wilkinson, conceded that his client's behaviour had been "ridiculous overreaction and an escalation of the events earlier that morning".

Jailing the father-of-three Wilkinson for life, with a minimum term of 22 years in jail, Judge Rose said Mr Badhams had offered no violence towards the defendant.

He said: “I’m satisfied you knew full well what you had done, and you turned and ran away. I regret to say I do not accept you have displayed any genuine remorse for the death of Casey Badhams.

“No sentence this court can impose will reduce or ease the pain of Casey Badhams’ family after the loss of such a loved young man.”