Two men stabbed to death a 22-year-old man “to teach him a lesson” after he told someone he was going to rob them. Courtney McLeary wielded the knife and plunged it into the chest of Davices Anderson while co-defendant David Francis tried to stop a witness leaving the room before joining in himself.
Shocking CCTV played at their trial showed the much-loved “brightest star in the sky” staggering asking for help having been fatally-wounded in the reception area of the block of flats where he was attacked. As he did so McLeary and his partner and a third defendant, his partner Lisa Barlow, casually stepped over him and fled the scene with the weapon, which has never been recovered.
Sentencing five people for their involvement in the killing, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said: “In the early hours of April 28, 2023, a young man, Davices Anderson, lost his life. You, Courtney McLeary, stabbed him to the chest with a knife.
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“He had other injuries but that was the fatal injury. There is evidence that you, David Francis, did not leave the room when it started and tried to stop a witness from leaving the room and then joined in.
“He was only 22 years old and, as we have heard, he was a much-loved son, a dad, a brother and an uncle. You both cut short his life.
“This was a joint attack by two people on one man to teach him a lesson. In the aftermath it is plain that you, McLeary, with Barlow, took any weapons that had been used from the scene and nothing has ever been found.”
The trial was told that on the night of the killing the victim and McLeary had been out to score drugs and had returned to the killer’s flat in High Cross Leys, off Huntingdon Street. While there Mr Anderson told someone else inside he was going to rob McLeary and Francis and was then attacked by the pair.
McLeary and Barlow then left the address with the weapons concealed under the woman’s salmon-coloured coat and went to the nearby home of a fourth defendant, Gregory Bailey, and then later to the address of a fifth, Danny O’Keefe, who harboured McLeary for two delays before he was arrested.
Prosecutor Andre Vout KC told the hearing that Mr Anderson was one of eight biological children to the same mother and also had three further siblings through adoption and a four-year-old daughter. He said he grew up in the care system.
Mr Vout said: “There was no evidence there was any violence at the flat at all (before the stabbing). He did not pose a threat to anyone.
“Mr McLeary flew across the room to attack Mr Anderson. After the stabbing, Mr McLeary was described as ‘gloating in the doorway’. Lisa Barlow was concealing weapons under her salmon-coloured coat and went to the home address of Mr Bailey.”
Mr Anderson’s sister, Rhianna Anderson, bravely read her own victim impact statement to the court. In it she said: “I have lost my best friend as well as my sibling. He loved children and will never get the chance to raise his daughter. I have lost a huge part of my life and things will never be the same again. This is an unbearable pain that no-one should feel. Davices’ heart was pure and he had so much love to give. His death has left a void that will never be filled.”
The victim’s brother, Kai, in his statement said: “My brother and best friend was taken from me without me having the chance to say goodbye.” In her statement another sister said: “I am broken and the effect this has had on me and my family is devastating.”
Hayley Anderson, the victim’s mother, in her impact statement said: “Life changed on April 28, 2023, forever. No-one expects to bury their child but to lose him in such a horrific way is heartbreaking beyond measure. His soul was kind and bright and he is now the brightest star in the sky looking down on us every day.”
McLeary, 54, of High Cross Leys and 61-year-old Francis, of Swale Grove, Bingham, were both found guilty of murder. The jury also found co-defendants O’Keefe, 50, of Keswick Court, Sneinton, and Bailey, 51, of Comyn Gardens, St Ann’s, both 50, guilty of assisting an offender in relation to the death of Mr Anderson.
Barlow, 45, of High Cross Leys, had pleaded guilty to assisting an offender before the jury was sworn. McLeary was handed a life sentence and told it would be 19 years before he is eligible to apply for parole.
Rossano Scamardella KC, his barrister, said: “Rather than planned, this must have been a spontaneous and quickly-made decision. This was a fast-moving and unpleasant incident (but) not a case where there was any planning.
“Mr Anderson told at least one person in the flat of his intention to rob Francis and McLeary. He faces the daunting prospect of life imprisonment with a lengthy custodial element. He will leave prison an old man with what’s left of his life likely to be in ruins.”
Francis was also jailed for life and was told it would be 16-and-a-half years before he can apply for release. Laurie-Anne Power KC, mitigating, said: “There is no evidence of what David Francis physically did to involve himself in the attack and (we say) he can be set apart from Courtney McLeary. (It has been said) he stayed behind at the scene to prevent Mr Anderson from giving an account to the police. (We say) he stayed behind with an intention to assist Mr Anderson.
“Over the past 20 years, David Francis has made a number of attempts to do something with his life. He has owned a jewellery shop and has been a sound engineer at a baptist church. He then spent a significant period of time in Jamaica but returned to be closer to his family. In 2022, he suffered a severe stroke which has left him with life-limiting conditions.”
The three other defendants were each jailed for two years.
