Teenager guilty of murdering man in Essex has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars
The 16 year-old was convicted of murder
Last updated 3rd Dec 2021
A teenage boy has been sentenced to a minimum of 13 years after being found guilty of murdering a father of four who had been celebrating his twin daughters’ second birthday.
The 16-year-old defendant stabbed James Gibbons in Laindon after the 34-year-old challenged a group of youths who were harassing a homeless man, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he was acting in self-defence and denied murder, but was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 to two following a trial.
Family members of the defendant wept in court as the jury returned its verdict on Wednesday.
Mr Gibbons’s family said afterwards, in a statement issued by police: “James did not like bullies, and he would always be the one who would protect and look out for vulnerable people.
“We are proud of him; he is our hero.”
They described him as “a grafter, a real hardworking man, who wanted nothing else but to provide for his family”, adding: “He, (his partner) Vicky and their children had their whole future to look forward to.
“Unfortunately, this has been taken from them.”
Simon Taylor QC, prosecuting, told jurors Mr Gibbons was yards from his home in Iris Mews, Laindon, Essex, when the defendant stabbed him four times on May 2nd this year.
Mr Gibbons’ partner, Victoria Billingham, said she remembered him leaving their twin daughters’ birthday barbecue to speak to a homeless man, called Christopher French, outside.
“When he returned he told her there were a couple of 15-year-olds that were bullying Chris, taking advantage and eating his food,” said Mr Taylor.
“He then said he was going to have another cigarette outside with Mr French to make sure he was OK.”
She later heard a “loud thudding at the door”, was told to call an ambulance and saw Mr Gibbons was injured, Mr Taylor said.
Mr French, 32, said Mr Gibbons had given him barbecue food to eat.
He said that as he was talking to Mr Gibbons they were approached by two people, with one of them pulling his hoody and the other trying to take his food.
Mr French said Mr Gibbons confronted the youths and that a few minutes later a larger group of youths returned.
He said he did not see anybody attack Mr Gibbons but heard a noise and saw him “wobbling around” before falling on the floor as Mr Gibbons walked back from an alleyway.
Essex Police said that in the hours after the murder, the teenage defendant admitted to the stabbing in a message in a Snapchat group, adding: “I don’t care, I’m a psychopath.”
Mr Taylor said the defendant searched on the internet for “stabbing in Laindon” and “consequences of accidentally killing someone” in the early hours of May 3.
He said a youth heard the defendant say, in a phone call on loudspeaker to another youth: “I chinged him 25 times.”
“According to (the youth, the defendant) was laughing as he said it,” said Mr Taylor, adding the youth’s understanding was that “chinged” meant stabbed.
The prosecutor said the defendant “willingly involved himself in violence against Mr Gibbons when there was no need to do so”.
He said that CCTV showed that Mr Gibbons was “surrounded by youths yards from his home address”.
“While it could be said James Gibbons was standing his ground and getting in the face of the youths, he was no threat to them and yet he died at (the defendant’s) hands,” said Mr Taylor.
He said that “whether it was to appear a big man in front of the females and his near peers … (the defendant) was intent on violence”.
He said the defendant ran off to get a weapon then came back and used it.
“Deliberately securing a weapon, then returning to the scene, then stabbing a man not once, not twice but four times, we say can only have been accompanied by an intent to cause really serious harm,” Mr Taylor said.
“That’s why the Crown say (the defendant’s) guilty of murder.”