Man who stabbed ‘hated enemy’ to death outside Leeds city centre bar faces life sentence

Damien Dhers was found guilty by a jury of nine women and three men after a trial over the death of Marlon Small.

Mr Small bled to death after the knife blow by Dhers penetrated his heart during the incident on Merrion Street.

Dhers had waited until Mr Small left Lounge Bar and Grill before launching the attack.

Dhers reached out of the driver’s window of his VW Golf before stabbing Mr Small once with the weapon and driving away.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the incident which took place shortly after 1.20am on November 1 last year.

Seconds later Mr Small can be seen returning from the middle of the road and collapsing on the pavement in front of the bar as others rush to help him.

Mr Small, 31, from Chapeltown, Leeds, died shortly after being taken to hospital.

The court heard the two men had a long standing “irrational” hatred towards each other.

When interviewed about the incident, Dhers told police their rivalry had started over a broken bicycle and he referred to Mr Small as a “grass”.

Dhers, of Hessle Road, Hyde Park, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but he denied murder.

He claimed he had acted unlawfully in using the weapon against Mr Small but did not accept that he intended to kill of cause serious injury.

After the killing Dhers fled the city with the help of others in a bid to “buy himself time” so he could construct lies about the incident before handing himself in to police.

Carmello Marzullo, 29, of Cockshott Lane, Armley, was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The jury heard he drove Dhers to Middlesbrough after the incident in a bid to avoid arrest.

Both men will be sentenced on Thursday.