Seven teens convicted over Bailey Atkinson murder
Seven people have been found guilty of murder over the fatal attack in Walsall.
Last updated 21st Mar 2024
Seven people have been found guilty of murdering a young man in Walsall town centre.
Bailey Atkinson, 21, died from multiple wounds after being attacked on High Street, on 28 January 2023.
CCTV footage shows Bailey running for his life, as he tried to flee his attackers, moments before he was stabbed to death.
In spite of open-heart surgery at the scene, Bailey couldn't be saved.
Today (21 March), seven people have been convicted of his murder after a ten week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
Sonny Loveridge and Ronan McCulloch, both 19, from Bloxwich, Patrick Brookes, 18, of Walsall, and Benjamin Wilkes, 18, were among those convicted.
Three 17-year-olds who cannot be named were also found guilty. Two other teenagers were cleared.
"Ferocious" attack
On the evening of 27 January 2023, Bailey was out with a female friend. A taxi dropped them in Walsall town centre and they were walking past the market stalls when a car swerved towards them.
Bailey told his friend to “run” as he also ran along the High Street.
There were two cars in convoy, a Toyota Verso and a Seat Leon, both had been stolen in previous days.
The nine occupants of both vehicles had met up on a supermarket car park shortly before they drove into the town centre looking for Bailey. It’s thought they sought him in retaliation for an attack on a brother of one of their number by Bailey two months previously.
They cornered Bailey by Lower Hall Lane and drove at him.
Bailey managed to escape, but the cars circled and caught up with him further along the High Street where six of the occupants got out and attacked Bailey with machetes and zombie knives. Bailey didn’t stand a chance.
His attackers got back in the cars leaving him on the floor, one even stopped to try to take a photo of Bailey on his mobile phone, as he lay bleeding on the floor.
All occupants of the cars made off to Slater Street in Wolverhampton where the cars were found burnt out just minutes after the killing.
Police were at Bailey’s side in less than five minutes and began CPR, but sadly he was pronounced dead at hospital a short time later.
Detective Inspector, Jim Mahon, said: "It was one of the most horrific pieces of CCTV I've ever seen.
"The police were on the scene within five minutes, so they were there to start CPR on Bailey and that was all recorded on body-worn cameras.
"So, the officers that had helped out with the CPR were present and to watch Bailey's last moments, is something that I think will haunt them for a long time."
Speaking of her son, mum Kerry said: "Bailey was a kind-hearted young man. He was the light of everybody's life.
"You always smiled when he was around because he used to make you laugh. He was so funny. Our hearts are broken that he's gone."
They'll be sentenced at a later date.