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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Dan Warburton

Killers jailed as love triangle feud erupts and rival stabbed to death in garden

Three killers have been jailed after a love triangle feud erupted in violence and a rival was stabbed to death in his back garden.

Jealous Mark Meadows, 25, and his loyal half-brother Travis Gorton, 20, were caged for life for murder for plotting to "get rid" of dad-of-two Keith Green.

Louise Grieve, 38, had been in a relationship with Mr Green for eight years but struck up a romance with Meadows 12 months before the planned attack.

She had been in their local pub playing bingo with Meadows and Gorton on the eve of Valentine's Day last year when they went to Mr Green's house.

Grieve let the pair into the garden and they lay in wait before attacking Mr Green as he stepped outside, using two knives to stab and slash him at least eight times in a frenzied attack.

Keith Green was murdered in his back garden (HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

Sentencing the trio at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ian Pringle gave Meadows and Gorton a life sentence each.

Meadows will face a minimum of 23 years behind bars, while Gorton will be in prison for 17 years before he is considered for parole.

Grieve, from Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, was jailed for eight years for manslaughter. A teenage girl who cannot be named for legal reasons was also convicted of manslaughter and will be sentenced on January 20.

Judge Pringle told Grieve: "You did nothing to resolve a tense and dangerous situation between the two men in your life... because you were enjoying the situation of two men vying for your attention."

Mark Meadows will face a minimum of 23 years behind bars after Kieth Green was killed (HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)
Travis Gorton will be in prison for 17 years before he is considered for parole (HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

The judge heard that Meadows, of Banbury, and Gorton, also from Hook Norton, dropped one of the knives down a nearby drain and hid the other inside a speaker after the attack in Banbury.

However, Meadows had unknowingly dropped his mobile phone at the scene, which revealed an incriminating dark plan to "get rid" of Mr Green.

The phone was just one of the clues which led police to Meadows' arrest just 60 minutes after the initial 999 call reporting the killing.

This image shows one of the knives used in the murders (HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

Judge Pringle told the pair: "There was a degree of planning involved, the victim was attacked just outside of his living area.

"You attacked him knowing full well he was a father of two very young children who were asleep inside."

Judge Pringle told Grieve: "You are convicted of the manslaughter of your partner of eight years and your youngest children's father.

"It was you who sent the messages and encouraged them both (Mr Green and Meadows) to show you love and affection. In short, all that mattered to you was what suited you." He described her as "staggeringly selfish."

This image shows another one of the knives used in the murders (HNP Newsdesk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

The judge added: "A seriously aggravating feature of this case is the lack of regard for your children who you are now no longer able to care for."

Following the trial, Shelby Delaney, Mr Green's daughter, said: "At the end of it they've still got their lives.

"They can still talk to family, they can still breathe, live, plan their future, they're still here, my dad's not and I can't explain how that is, what that feels like."

Det Ch Insp Jon Capps, of Thames Valley Police, said: "Keith was a loved family man, and his family have had to bear many months of trauma while we investigated the circumstances of his death and brought his killers to justice."

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