A “cowardly” killer who smirked as his victim’s mother told a court of her heartbreak over her son’s murder has been jailed for life.
Thomas Dures, 21, fled to Greece after stabbing Matthew Daulby, 19, with a lock knife, outside a bar in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
Mr Daulby, from Liverpool, died at Aintree Hospital, shortly after the attack on July 29 2023.
It meant his family had to endure two murder trials after an accomplice, Henry Houghton was convicted for the murder last year, before Dures eventually handed himself in to police in Athens and was convicted last week.
But as Angela Daulby gave a moving victim impact statement at Preston Crown Court on Monday, Judge Robert Altham watched her son’s killer misbehave.
Jailing him for a mandatory life sentence for murder with a minimum of 23 years before parole, Judge Altham said Dures’s “cowardly” actions had resulted in his victim’s parents enduring the two murder trials.
He continued: “You have never shown the slightest remorse.
You smirked and shook your head as his mother read her statement.
“Having murdered Matthew Daulby you now seek to heap further misery on his family.”
Earlier Mrs Daulby told the court her son, who she described as “loving and caring”, had a happy, contented life and was looking forward to his first holiday in Ibiza.
After a family meal he had gone out with his girlfriend and friends for a Friday night out in Ormskirk.
But she and her husband Gary Daulby were then called to Aintree Hospital.
“No parent should hear those words, ‘We did everything we could’,” Mrs Daulby said.
“No parent should have to bury their child, it leaves you with pain I can’t even explain.
“What I would give to hear his voice again and have one more cuddle. You broke my heart. You have given us a life sentence of grief.”
Mr Daulby said in his statement he was “haunted” by the memory of his son’s final moments and felt “crushed” by the emotional toll of losing him.
Dures, from Aughton, Lancashire, along with Houghton lurked in an alleyway before charging Matthew Daulby and his friends from behind.
Houghton struck Mr Daulby with a cosh, a tied up sock containing a rock, before Dures, armed with a lock knife, plunged the blade into his victim’s chest up to the hilt.
He discarded the weapon and his bloody clothes, took a selfie of him smoking a cannabis joint and fled the UK the next day.
Dures was also found guilty of wounding with intent to another man, during the murder trial ending last week.
Henry Houghton, of Scarisbrick, Lancashire, was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in March last year for his role in Matthew Daulby’s murder.
Outside court Det Chief Insp Andy Fallows, from Lancashire Police, said: “I welcome today’s sentence which brings to an end the Daulby family’s long and arduous wait for justice.
“Tomorrow marks two years since Matthew was unlawfully taken from them.
“And the Daulby family have had to wait patiently for the man responsible for delivering the fatal injury to answer for his crimes.
“They have had to figure out a way to try and grieve, knowing the man responsible to taking their son’s life was actively evading justice, and celebrating his 21st birthday in the sun. Something Matthew will never be able to do.
“Thomas Dures came back to the UK with the intent of getting in the dock and telling a catalogue of lies. He pointed the finger of blame at everybody but himself and took no accountability for his actions.
“Thankfully the jury saw through his lies and ensured that Dures will be held accountable for his crimes.
“I’d like to thank my investigation team for everything they have done in securing this conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service and our KC, Peter Glenser and junior counsel Katy Appleton.
“I would also like to thank the public and the media for all the witness appeals they shared, and their help in keeping this case in the spotlight.
“I have no doubt that it kept the pressure up and played no small part in Dures taking the decision to hand himself in.”
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