Knife killer of Army cadet is locked up for at least 17 years

A TEENAGE gang member who repeatedly breached court orders has been locked up for a minimum of 17 years for the murder of a young Army cadet.

James Moore and nine others confronted 16-year-old cadet Joseph Lappin, a member of the Liverpool Scottish Regiment, and his friends Callum Naden and Greg Harold who were attending a band practice session at a youth club in Everton, Liverpool on October 20 2008.

The mob, who had their faces covered and were armed with an array of weapons including batons, sticks and bottles as well as Moore’s 4in (10cm) blade, were looking for revenge following a gang-related incident earlier that day.

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Joseph and his friends, who lived on the other side of Liverpool, were totally unaware of the feud taking place in the area. But the group attacked them even though they knew they were not the ones they were looking for.

After chasing and cornering them, Moore, then aged 16, launched his attack and knifed Joseph through the heart and then Callum in the chest and leg.

Callum, 17, survived but Joseph was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Speaking after the case, parents John and Toni Lappin, from Liverpool, voiced anger at the claimed leniency of the judicial system.

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Mr Lappin, 45, said: “Once he breached his Asbo the first time he should have been brought to task.” His wife, also 45, added if Moore had been made to answer for “more minor crimes”, Joseph might not have been murdered. Liverpool Crown Court heard Moore was given an Asbo for terrorising his neighbours and local businesses in September 2007 and had breached it 45 times in the months leading up to the stabbing.

The 17-year-old, of Silvester Street, Vauxhall, Liverpool, flouted referral orders and supervision orders imposed to punish and rein him in.

Sentencing Moore, who pleaded guilty to murder last month, Mr Justice Henriques said he recognised Moore’s troubled background, that both his parents were drug users and that his father is serving 10 years for armed robbery.

But he told the court: “It is truly shocking, even for those of us who attend court on a daily basis, that three such decent teenagers could be exposed to a pursuit, a chase and death.”

The other defendants were jailed for between six years and four years and three months. All admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

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