Schoolboy, 16, who stabbed rival in fight gets 10 years

Jordan Shaw, who was 15 at the time of the attack, and his victim Joey Smith, 18, were seen pushing each other around “like stags” before Shaw produced a knife from his sleeve.

He twice stabbed Mr Smith, one a glancing blow under his armpit, the other entering his heart, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Shaw, now 16, was cleared of murder but was found guilty of manslaughter following a two-week trial.

Judge Alan Goldsack sentenced him to a ten-year extended sentence. It is likely he will serve at least three and a half years in detention and then the rest on extended licence.

The judge said he had been “utterly reckless” and told Shaw: “You pose a significant risk of causing serious harm by the commission of further offences.”

The court heard Shaw was permanently excluded from school for fighting and had a conviction at 13 for assault when he kicked another boy on the ground.

He has also had a reprimand for threatening behaviour and had been given a warning over anti-social behaviour.

The judge told Shaw: “You had known Joey for some time and there had been occasional friction but nothing had come of it.

“It was all over something and nothing.”

The court was told that Shaw had two arguments with Mr Smith on the day of the killing and had initially packed a knife in his lunchbox on the way to classes before ditching it.

Shaw later armed himself with a second knife which he took from the kitchen at home to stab his victim.

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC said the teenager had boasted that he was going to use the knife on Mr Smith.

“He claimed he was always starting on him,” she told the court. “He was going to give him a couple of stabs in the leg. He wanted to show him who was who.”

Mr Smith, who was unemployed, died in the village of Moorends, near Doncaster, on March 23 this year. The pair had both lived in the village.

Mr Smith had a daughter and his girlfriend Hayley Webster later gave birth to their second child.

The court heard the blow which entered unarmed Mr Smith’s heart led to a “very speedy death”.

Shaw accepted that he stabbed his victim during an altercation on a Moorends street but he claimed that it had been an accident.

The court heard the victim and his 15-year-old attacker first argued after Shaw finished classes at a special centre he attended.

The younger boy swore and threatened to knife the 18-year-old who laughed at him before adopting a fighting stance. Shaw gestured and ran away.

The pair then met up a short while later. Shaw had meanwhile armed himself with a 22 cm long steak knife he took from a set of knives in the kitchen at home.

They began arguing and Mr Smith ran at the defendant and swung a punch. Shaw who had the knife up his sleeve retaliated and began shouting at him.

He aimed a blow and Mr Smith looked down and saw he had been stabbed. Shaw then threw his arms up in triumph and ran away. The weapon was later recovered from a drain with the victim’s blood on it.

When arrested Shaw told police Mr Smith had pushed him and he just reacted with a knife he had found earlier that day which he later admitted was a lie.

David Fish QC, for Shaw, said he lost his father in “tragic circumstances” at 12 and did not have the benefit of a strong father figure.

“Towards the end of the day he was nervous and afraid of Joey and his friends,” said Mr Fish.

Faced by Mr Smith and a friend he reacted. “It was a swift aberration in the face of what might have been a two-pronged attack,” said Mr Fish.

Judge Goldsack lifted reporting restrictions, allowing Shaw to be named, and said: “More and more people are carrying knives in public and using them to cause injury or death. It is among young people that the carrying and use of knives appears to be most prevalent.

“The message has to be reinforced every time that a death occurs from the use of a knife that punishment and deterrence to protect the public are the prime purposes of sentencing, whatever the age of the accused.”

After the trial Joey’s parents Betsy and Charles Smith said: “Nobody will ever know what went through one boy’s mind as he took the life of another and whatever happens it will never bring Joey back.”