Life for Leeds Railway Murder
A-31-year-old man from Leeds has sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of former Leeds student, Billy Mankelow. Richard Dennis Langdon Danter (31) of Queens Road, Leeds was sentenced to life imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court today, Friday 21, August 2015, and ordered to spend a minimum of 15 years behind bars. The court heard how on Saturday, 25 April 2015, Danter had met Billy (20) a former Leeds University student, who at the time of his death was working for Capita and Get Baked at the university, in the Viaduct Bar near Leeds train station. The two men were seen leaving the bar together at 2.44am. A short while later two men had taken a wrong turn and were walking through the railway arches near to Swinegate, when they saw a man dragging what they believed to be a body into one of the arches. When they investigated further, they discovered Billy lying unconscious with multiple head injuries in a pool of blood. They alerted the emergency services and Billy was taken to Leeds General Infirmary in a life threatening condition, where he was placed on a life support machine in intensive care. When he was found, Billy had no identification on him, and detectives worked hard to identify him. He had not been reported missing and couldn’t be identified by fingerprints. As he was in a life-threatening condition, officers were in a race against time to identify him to be able to inform his family. An appeal was issued in the media to attempt to gain any information about the injured person. A colleague who worked with Billy came forward claiming she had been with him in the Viaduct Bar the night before and had become separated from him and was concerned for his welfare. Detectives followed up on the lead and after confirming it was Billy, his family, who are from Kent, were informed and immediately taken to Leeds by BTP officers. Sadly Billy’s life support machine was turned off on Sunday, 26th April in the presence of his family. Officers attended the Viaduct bar and spoke to staff and viewed CCTV which led them to Danter. He was arrested at 1pm on Sunday, 26 April close to his home address in Queens Road, Leeds. During a search of rubbish bins close to his house, Danter's bloodstained clothing was recovered, including a distinctive jacket that he had been wearing on the night of the attack. Follow up enquiries also revealed that directly after the incident, Danter returned to the Viaduct bar and spoke to a number of members of staff stating he had just killed someone, a confession he also relayed to a friend a short while later. The Recorder of Leeds Peter Collier QC said, “You (Danter) subjected your victim to an unspeakable degree of violence. The surgeon who dealt with him said that he had never seen so much trauma completely focused on the head and facial area. “Such was the savageness and brutality of your focused attack on his head, I am driven to conclude that at that moment your intention was to kill him “You left him where you had assaulted him, helpless and dying, and went back to the nightclub. Later you went back and moved his body further into the arches, no doubt intending to make it more unlikely that he would be discovered. “You also removed and disposed of his mobile phone, whether or not he would have been capable of calling for help himself I can never know.” Detective Chief Inspector David Shipperlee of British Transport Police’s major investigation team said: “Billy, an innocent, caring and popular young man, died as a result of serious head injuries received during a sustained and what we believe to be, totally unprovoked attack. He received more than 20 blows to his head, the majority of which were as a result of being kicked and stamped on. “After he assaulted him, Danter dragged Billy into an alcove in the railway arch, presumably to conceal his body, and left him for dead. “His death is such a tragic waste of a young life, a life taken by a violent, evil and dangerous man, who has a history of previous convictions for violence and sexual offences, who is now where he belongs, behind bars. “Our thoughts are with Billy’s family, whose lives have been turned upside down by Danter’s actions that night. No one should have to experience what they are living through right now and I hope that the sentencing today can bring them some comfort in seeking justice for Billy’s tragic death. “I would like to extend my thanks to the media who initially helped us publicise the assault that quickly provided us with information which helped us identify Billy, and enabling us to inform his family and convey them to his bedside before he sadly died.”
Billy’s family have released a statement: “Billy loved life and had lots of friends. He was independent and motivated and went to study at Leeds University in 2013. Billy loved Leeds, a place where he made a life for himself and had lots of friends. “Billy would always make time to come back to Kent in the holidays to spend time with his family. “At the time of his death Billy had been working for Capita and had passed his training course and was due to start his new role only two days after his death. “Billy’s family and friends are all distraught at the way Billy died; which was so senseless and unnecessary. Billy was simply out with friends having a good time with his life ahead of him. “We as a family will never get over the way he died, we have lost a person of exceptional kindness and good nature. “Billy’s tragic loss will be felt by everyone who knew him for a long time.”