Gang jailed for 125 years for "senseless" killing of Southampton man
Mark Noke was stabbed when he opened the door to his flat in Thornhill
Seven men have been jailed after a man was killed when a gang went to the wrong flat in a planned robbery in Southampton.
Mark Noke, 64, was stabbed to death after opening the door of his home in Warburton Road in Thornhill on 25 February.
Winchester Crown Court heard one of the men had dressed as a pizza delivery man to gain entry to the flats where Mr Noke lived.
They had been searching for £30,000 in cash and two kilograms of cannabis, but had taken the wrong turn instead of going to their intended target.
The men force their way into Mr Noke's flat, demanding to know the whereabouts of a man and woman.
Mr Noke, who had no previous criminal history, had a gun pointed at his head and was stabbed in the chest, before the group fled the scene.
The court heard he was able to call 999, but could not be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Seven men were convicted in connection with the murder of Mark Noke
Kieran Thomas Claffey, 29, Leighton James Tabone, 24, and Justin Lee Roach, 40, were found guilty of murder.
Bradley James O'Dell, 22, and Aaron Paul Dean Morgan, 32, were convicted of manslaughter.
Harley Wilson, 21, and Daniel Alexander Bull, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.
Tabone, of no fixed abode, O'Dell, of Blendworth Lane, Southampton, Morgan, of no fixed abode, and Road, of Steep Close, Southampton, had all pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery, but were found guilty by a jury after a seven week trial.
Claffey, of Keynsham Road, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, but denied murder and manslaughter.
Sentencing them, judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: "It was clear Mark Noke was kind, much loved and cherished."
The judge jailed Tabone and Roach for life with a minimum of 27 years, and Claffey for life with a minimum of 29 years.
O'Dell was jailed for 15 years, Bull for eight years and Wilson for seven and a half years.
Detective Inspector Howard Broadribb from Hampshire Constabulary, said: "This case resulted from the senseless killing of Mark Noke.
"He had done nothing to deserve the mindless and abhorrent violence he was met with on that night in February last year, and my thoughts are with his family.
"They have showed great courage throughout this process and our investigation team have worked tirelessly to piece together the movements of those involved, and seek to provide some justice for Mark's family.
"The five men jailed are all equally as liable as each other.
"Together the planned to commit robbery, and went mob-handed; expecting to use their power in numbers were they to be met with resistance.
"It was together they armed themselves with a knife and a gun, intending serious harm in order to get their way and steal the money and drugs they were seeking.
"And it was together they showed no remorse, instead making great efforts to evade being identified by deleting phone messages, discarding phones and selling the car they used within days.
"Together they thought they had done enough to evade capture, and avoid the accountability for the life they had taken.
"The pain and heartache to Mark's family is unimaginable, and together these men have destroyed the lives of those who loved Mark so dearly.
"Although no sentence will ever be able to return Mark to them, nor fill the void left by his death, I hope knowing each of the people involved is now in jail will provide them some closure."