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Casey Badhams murder: Jake Wilkinson jailed for Halifax stabbing

Jake WilkinsonImage source, West Yorkshire Police
Image caption,
Jake Wilkinson will serve a minimum of 22 years for murder

A 21-year-old who fatally stabbed a man who insulted him in an "act of revenge" has been jailed for at least 22 years.

Jake Wilkinson had been drinking and taking cocaine when he armed himself with a large knife and attacked Casey Badhams, also 21.

A judge at Bradford Crown Court said the killing had been a "pre-planned" attack in response to an earlier argument.

Wilkinson, who was found guilty of murder, was given a life sentence.

The court heard the defendant and Mr Badhams had been drinking with a group after a "chance meeting" in Halifax on 7 August last year.

It escalated into a row, during which Wilkinson claimed the other man had threatened to come to his house and kill him.

In his defence, he had said this had left him scared and confused and led him to arm himself.

He further claimed he had swung the knife at Mr Badhams, penetrating his heart, in a moment of panic.

But Judge Jonathan Rose, sentencing, said the attack had been a pre-planned act of revenge, "instigated and initiated" by Wilkinson.

"You sought out that violence and you were the cause of it," he said.

Wilkinson had "shown no remorse", the judge said, adding: "I'm satisfied you knew full well what you had done and you turned and ran away."

Casey BadhamsImage source, West Yorkshire Police
Image caption,
The mother of Casey Badhams said she missed "his smile so much"

In a victim impact statement, Mr Badham's mother Samina Kershaw said her "heart had been ripped out and a piece was missing".

She said every day was a battle to get up and get dressed and the pain was too much to bear.

Wilkinson, of Furness Drive, Ovenden, was sentenced last month but the hearing could not previously be reported due to a court order.

 

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