Three get life for street murder

Tony Aspinall, 25, of Windermere Close, his brother John Aspinall, 24, of Gloucester Road, and Paul Smyth, 19, of Pendle Drive, all Blackburn, denied murdering Mr Sudall in Cicely Lane, Blackburn, last July. They were convicted late yesterday, after a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

Judge Douglas Brown told them: "You three have been convicted of the brutal killing of a defenceless man.

"He was a total stranger to you and the fact that you were prepared, without a moment's hesitation, to kick and stamp the life out of him without any reason at all leads me to think that you three are dangerous."

Mr Sudall, 22, of View Road, Darwen, was attacked in the early hours of July 6 as he left Club Euro in Blackburn.

He died in the intensive care unit of Royal Preston Hospital later that day, just a fortnight before he would have celebrated his 23rd birthday.

The court was told he had died during surgery to remove a blood clot from the surface of his brain.

The court heard that apparent bad feeling between two groups of youths had led to him being punched to the ground before his head was repeatedly kicked and stamped on as he lay motionless on the pavement.

One witness described Mr Sudall's head being struck as if someone was "stamping on a beetle".

Another said he heard a "cracking" sound as two men simultaneously kicked Kevin to the side of the head. After the murder, Tony Aspinall was alleged to have told friends: "I am going to do a 10 to 12 stretch.

"Someone has thrown my name in but don't worry, I am not going to throw anybody's name."

The court heard that all three men were already awaiting trial on charges of violence when they attacked Mr Sudall.

Each had denied the offences and Judge Brown agreed to allow the charges to lie on file.

No mitigation was offered in respect of the Aspinall brothers, but Roderick Carus, for Smyth, said the crime "lacked some of the more malevolent aspects of premeditation" and added that his client was only 18 at the time of the murder.

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Neil Smith, who led the police investigation, labelled the three men brutal bullies.

He added: "This type of behaviour, where people take the law into their own hands, seems to be becoming more and more common but the people responsible must know it will not be tolerated."

THE three young men who murdered Kevin Sudall were brought up surrounded by crime.

Brothers Tony and John Aspinall and Paul Smyth progressed from minor brushes with the law to committing a brutal murder in the space of a few short years.

Smyth, known locally as Scots Paul, moved down from Glasgow to Blackburn, where he has relatives, in his early teens.

He had convictions for dishonesty and a reputation for having a violent streak.

The Aspinall brothers were brought up in Blackburn and, like Smyth, did not have a regular job.

All three men had been released on bail after being charged with offences of violence before the attack on Kevin.

KEVIN Sudall had everything to live for - until a nasty twist of fate robbed him of life itself.

A loving family, a wide circle of friends, good health, youth - the pluses in the likeable young golfer's world were numerous.

But it was all snatched away from him after an innocent night out with friends at the Club Euro nightspot, Blackburn, on July 6 1996.

He died when young scum with no respect for the law or for other people set upon him like a pack of animals.

One witness said someone had stamped on Kevin's skull as if they were crushing a beetle.

Shock and grief are normal reactions when a loved one has been killed.

But Kevin's death prompted much more.

Utter disbelief descended over the people who knew and loved him.

As one of his friend's mothers said: "It's horrible to think that something like that could happen in Blackburn, especially to somebody like Kevin, who would never fight anybody in a million years and who had never caused trouble in his life."

And Acting Detective Chief Inspector Neil Smith, who led the police investigation, said: "Kevin had done nothing wrong whatsoever when he was attacked.

"He was an honest, likeable young man who was simply enjoying a night out with two of his friends." The sense of shock at what had happened was conveyed a few days after the killing by Kevin's cousin, Damion Taylor, who explained: "We can't believe what has happened.

"The three of them just went for a night out. Everyone is very upset."

Kevin, a former pupil of St Bede's High School, Blackburn, worked for Blackburn-based East Lancashire Refrigeration Limited.

He was a keen member of Darwen Golf Club.

The keen golfer, who joined the club as a junior, had won a prize at the club's pro-am tournament the week before his death.

He had talked about going on holiday in Tenerife with friends.

But instead he died of severe head injuries after a brutal attack - just two weeks before he was due to celebrate his 23rd birthday.

MURDER victim Kevin Sudall was a witness to a glassing outside the Alex pub in Darwen around three months before he was killed.

His friend Graham Prescott was assaulted by 19-year-old Jamie Craven.

Craven, of Owlett Hall Road, Darwen, lashed out with a bottle when trouble flared as the two men got off a coach at the end of a trip to Park Hall nightclub, Charnock Richard, on April 19 last year.

Graham Prescott had to have 32 stitches in a face wound.

Craven, who had hit out because he was being attacked by somebody else, was sent to a young offenders' institution for six months after pleading guilty to unlawful wounding when he appeared at Preston Crown Court.

Kevin had given a statement to police about the assault and was due to give evidence in court.

On the night of his death, Kevin went to the Alex with his cousin Danny Pomfrett and Graham Prescott before going to Blackburn and Club Euro.

They were spotted inside and a group of youths was waiting for them when they came out, between 2.30am and 3am.

FORMER world snooker champion Dennis Taylor spoke of the horror at learning one of his relatives had been kicked to death outside a nightclub in the town he has adopted as his own.

Dennis is the nephew of Kevin's mum, Sheila.

When he arrived in England from Ireland as a teenager, Sheila took him under her wing and treated him like her own son.

Dennis joined hundreds of mourners comforting Sheila and her husband Bill at the funeral at St Edward's Church, Darwen.

The ex-champ recalled: "Kevin's mum Sheila looked after me when I came to England as a 17-year-old.

"She was like a second mother to me.

"She was so kind and Kevin was just like his mum.

"Every time I used to go and visit them Kevin was always there, pleasant with a smiling face.

"You can't believe that something like this could happen to a family that never caused any problems for anybody.

"There is no explanation or words that can describe the terrible feeling I had when I learned what had happened and I feel so sad for Sheila.

"Sheila was devastated but the one thing that has helped her is that she has just become a grandmother for the first time, through Kevin's sister Mary."

A TERRIFIED mother who lived in fear of Tony Aspinall had predicted that it was only a matter of time before he killed someone.

Single mum Sue Draper said she warned police, councillors and MP Jack Straw about her violent neighbour when they lived next to each other at Westwood Court, Blackburn, for almost a year.

She eventually fled her home town with three-year-old daughter Danielle after claiming she had endured months of violent abuse.

And she shuddered when she heard that her prediction had come true.

"My heart went all funny inside. I got really upset," she said.

"How could the local authority let it result in something like that? It's terrible. I can't express the words that I feel."

Sue, 30, feels that if people in the community had sat up and listened to her pleas to tackle Aspinall, then Kevin Sudall would be alive today. She said: "Everybody knew that Aspinall was capable of doing this. It was bound to happen some day.

"He got away with abusing me and my little girl. I am absolutely furious."

Months before the murder, Aspinall turned his aggression on Sue, and her daughter, when she complained to police after enduring his loud music for nearly six months.

She claimed Aspinall threatened to break Danielle's legs if the police were called again, hurled a brick through the window of their home, continually spat on and pushed Danielle over in the street, punched Sue in the face and frequently forced Sue and Danielle to flee to a refuge to escape the abuse.

Sue, a former pupil of Witton Park High School, Blackburn, was a voluntary worker who counselled terminally ill hospital patients but ended up having to seek counselling herself.

She said: "I just couldn't put up with it any more. Danielle wasn't sleeping. I'd been warned about him but I complained, not realising how heavy he was."

Sue, who now lives at a secret address, added: "I now live on Planet X.

"I'm unable to return to Blackburn for the rest of my life in case he finds me."

KEVIN Sudall was not the only person who died that night outside Club Euro.

His mother Sheila has died a little every day since.

Her husband Bill said today: "Sheila is shattered, she is absolutely devastated. She just can't come to terms with it. I don't think she will ever recover from the shock."

The family gathered this morning at Kevin's home in View Road, Darwen, to pay tribute to a wonderful lad. Fast asleep in the arms of his mother Mary Walsh - Kevin's older sister - was five-week-old Joseph Kevin.

Said her husband Neil: "When the baby was born Mary and I decided to name him after Kevin.

"The birth of the baby has been the one bright moment in 12 months of devastation.

"The whole family was so pleased that we decided to keep Kevin's name alive. He was a great lad and a great friend to so many people." Kevin, 22, had a wide circle of friends, many of them at Darwen Golf Club where he played regularly. Golfing partner and lifelong friend John Grimshaw, 23, said: "Everybody liked Kevin, he was the sort of person you could talk to and share your problems with."

His workmates at East Lancs Refrigeration, Clarendon Road, Blackburn, were also shocked by his death.

Said his father Bill, 67 and retired from ICI, Darwen: "His workmates have been very supportive. We received more than 300 messages of sympathy. John, with whom he was apprenticed as a sheet metal worker, has become a family friend. He has told us how Kevin was so popular at work. We never realised until the tragedy just how many friends he had. He was a smashing son."

Brother Patrick, 32, and his wife Joanie, who live next door, recalled their wedding day last year, just a few weeks before Kevin died and at which he was best man.

Patrick said: "So much has gone out of our lives. My mum is just a shadow of her former self and everybody else is terribly upset." Brother-in-law Neil recalled how Kevin was an avid Blackburn Rovers fan: "We saw all the home games and went to many of the away matches.

"He was a real fan and of course he had many friends among the supporters.

"Mary and I are particularly sad that Kevin didn't get to see his little nephew.

"He loved children and we know he would have doted on the little lad."

Bill and Sheila now have to face the almost impossible task of coming to terms with the loss of their "baby."

"We will never get over it. We really can't expect to.

"But everyone, family and so many friends are doing their best to help us through.

"The last few weeks have been very traumatic. Sheila just loves little Joseph Kevin and hopefully he will give her something to hold on to and something to look forward to."

Mary, whose second wedding anniversary was yesterday, said: "Neil and I bring the baby round very often and my mum just loves to nurse him. Kevin was always the baby of the family but now my baby has taken over his role."

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