Yorkshire pair guilty of plot to murder Joss Stone

Kevin Liverpool, 35, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months. His friend and co-defendant Junior Bradshaw, 32, has yet to be sentenced although the judge in the case suggested he may be sent to a secure psychiatric unit.

Speaking outside the court, Miss Stone, who gave evidence during the trial, said: “I’d like to thank everyone for all their support and kind wishes. I am relieved the trial is now over and that these men are no longer in a position to cause harm to anyone.”

Liverpool and Bradshaw, who grew up and became friends in Huddersfield before moving to Manchester, had driven to Miss Stone’s home in mid-Devon with an arsenal of weapons to rob and kill her.

Bizarre notes written by Liverpool suggested the plan involved beheading her because of her links to the royal family.

They had scouted Miss Stone’s home and were on their way to attack her armed with the sword, three knives, two hammers, masks, gloves and a hosepipe when they were arrested in Cullompton in June 2011.

Suspicious residents had called the police having spotted Liverpool and Bradshaw’s badly damaged Fiat Punto in the local area.

The pair told police they were lost and were trying to get to Bristol but officers became wary and discovered the cache in the boot.

A search of the one-bedroom flat Bradshaw and Liverpool shared in Manchester also recovered a self-cocking crossbow and a BB gun.

Judge Francis Gilbert QC, The Recorder of Exeter, said Liverpool was a danger to the public and had hoped to secure more than £1m from the star.

He told him: “You intended to rob her and kill her and dump her body in the river, according to your words, and then leave the country with your accomplice Junior Bradshaw.

“You had no reason to target her except that she was a wealthy young woman as she was a successful singer.

“You assumed as she was a friend of the royal family she would be able to give you money.

“It may have been, to use the colloquial, ‘a crazy scheme from a crazy person and must be likely to fail’ but when you decided to travel from Manchester to Devon you intended to carry it out.”

During the trial it emerged the pair were relying on maps printed off the internet to try and find Miss Stone’s home and, after becoming lost, were forced to ask a postman for directions using her picture.

The plot had already run into difficulties earlier in the day when they were stopped by police at the M5 Michaelwood services. They had had a collision with metal railings and a digger, leaving the Punto badly damaged.

Gloucestershire Police officers thought the vehicle was too badly damaged to be driven and left the scene, but Liverpool and Bradshaw managed to continue their journey. However, the damage and erratic behaviour quickly raised the suspicions of local residents as they closed in on Miss Stone’s home.

Superintendent Steve Parker, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “I have no doubt that Liverpool and Bradshaw were intending to harm Miss Stone and it was through the alertness of the public and good police work that we were able to bring this incident to a successful conclusion.”

Bradshaw will be sentenced at a later date. The judge said he was considering passing a hybrid sentence, meaning he would receive a custodial sentence but would most likely serve it in a secure psychiatric unit.

Pair were unlikely plotters say family: Page 6.