A dad, 21, has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years after he stabbed and killed another man following a “petty and pointless” argument near a children’s play area.
Jake Wilkinson was found guilty of murdering Casey Badhams, also 21, after he stabbed him in the heart in broad daylight, in Halifax, West Yorkshire last year.
The judge described the ruthless attack as a pre-planned act of revenge and said Wilkinson had been drinking alcohol and taking cocaine.
The jury was told how the two young men had a “chance meeting” in the early hours of the morning on August 7, 2021.
After their meeting, the pair exchanged insults and later, Wilkinson armed himself with a knife from his partner’s home.
He later went on to stab Casey.
The jury were shown CCTV footage of Wilkinson getting out of his partner’s car, just before 9am on the day of the attack.
He then confronted Casey with the knife, and during the argument he swung at and stabbed him in the heart.
Wilkinson ran off as Casey collapsed to the ground, and despite the efforts of passers-by and emergency services, he died from his injury.
During the month-long trial, as he spoke to the jury, Wilkinson claimed Casey had threatened to “shank” him and come to his own home and kill him.
He claimed he felt scared and confused and got the knife to confront Casey about what he said.
The young man added he only swung the knife to try and keep Casey away.
But the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict and Judge Jonathan Rose said the attack had been a pre-planned act of revenge.
He told Wilkinson: "You instigated and initiated the violence. You sought out that violence and you were the cause of it."
Judge Rose said there had been a "petty and pointless" argument following an exchange of insults, but Casey had walked away and considered the argument was at an end.
He said Wilkinson's attempt during the trial to paint Casey as a man of violence had been rejected by the jury.
Barrister Mark Rhind QC, for Wilkinson, conceded that his client's behaviour had been "ridiculous overreaction and an escalation of the events earlier that morning".
Jailing the father-of-three Wilkinson for life, with a minimum term of 22 years in jail, Judge Rose said Casey had offered no violence towards the defendant.
He said: "I'm satisfied you knew full well what you had done, and you turned and ran away.
"I regret to say I do not accept you have displayed any genuine remorse for the death of Casey Badhams.
"No sentence this court can impose will reduce or ease the pain of Casey Badhams' family after the loss of such a loved young man."
In a moving victim impact statement, Casey's mum Samina Kershaw told the court her son "never stood a chance" against Wilkinson.
She said: "I miss his smile so much.
"Casey never stood a chance, as we now know, it was a single blow that pierced his heart."
"I hope [this] sentence deters others from carrying a knife and stops other families going through what we went through."
