Mum of Norfolk teenager murdered in Suffolk calls for crack down on knife crime

Raymond 'James' Quigley was stabbed in Ipswich last year

Author: Sian RochePublished 12th Mar 2024

The mum of a Norfolk teenager who was stabbed and killed in Suffolk says major action is needed to crack down on knife crime

18 year old Raymond James Quigley was attacked in Ipswich Town Centre in January last year.

Yesterday, his killers Alfie Hammet and Joshua Howell were handed life in prison.

James' mum Margaret says although justice has been served, nothing will bring her boy back: "As James rests in peace, his whole life and future has been wiped out and taken away from him for no reason.

"No matter how much you don't like someone, there's no reason possible to justify what's been done to our son."

She's now calling for a major crack down on knife crime: "I just hope one day soon the law will change to try and end this - destroying lives and families like ours."

Life sentences

Alfie Hammett & Joshua Howell

Alfie Hammett and Joshua Howell, both aged 19-years-old, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday (Monday 11 March), where they were sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum custodial terms of 24 years and 20 years respectively.

Hammett, of Larkhill Rise, Rushmere St Andrew; and Howell of Wellington Street, Ipswich; had both been found guilty on Friday 26 January of murdering Raymond James Quigley – known as James – following a trial lasting over five weeks.

They were both also found guilty of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and Howell was further convicted of threatening another person with a bladed article.

"A horrific and completely senseless act of extreme violence"

Detective Chief Inspector Tam Burgess, the Senior Investigating Officer, said: “This was an horrific and completely senseless act of extreme violence that has resulted in the death of an 18-year-old man who had his whole life ahead of him.

“I want to pay tribute to James’ family for their dignity and perseverance throughout this investigation and more latterly the trial, which has been an incredibly difficult process for them.

“I also want to thank everyone who has been involved with this inquiry, from detectives, to the CCTV team, enquiry officers, major incident room staff and crime scene investigators. It was an intense three days following the attack, seizing and viewing hundreds of hours of video footage and gathering all the other evidence, which ultimately led to us identifying Alfie Hammett and Joshua Howell.

“I am still staggered by the brazen way in which Hammett and Howell committed this heinous crime in such a public place, with numerous members of the public around and in full view of CCTV cameras.

"He stood no chance"

“James Quigley was simply walking through town with his friends, when he was subjected to this unprovoked attack and without any opportunity to defend himself. He stood no chance.

“And the motivation? Although they are never likely to tell us themselves, everything points to it being down to gang rivalry. Across the country we are seeing too many deaths of this nature. This senseless loss of young lives has to stop.

“Carrying knives is not the answer to anything. It devastates peoples’ lives, not just those of the victims, but their family and friends and also the families of the attackers.

“We must continue to work together as a society to educate everybody about the risks and do everything we can to prevent another family going through what James’ family has had to suffer.”

What happened?

The incident happened around 3.35pm on Tuesday 17 January 2023, in Westgate Street.

James had travelled to Ipswich from Wymondham that day to meet two friends.

He was walking through the town with them when they encountered Hammett and Howell - who were wearing face masks, had hoods up and were both carrying large knives.

Hammett then ran directly towards James and proceeded to attack him, while Howell – brandishing a machete - chased after one of James’ friends, who managed to escape to safety in a nearby shop.

Howell then ran off up Providence Street, while Hammett – having stabbed James a number of times – ran off in the opposite direction back across the Cornhill.

Following the attack, James managed to stagger across the road to get help and collapsed in a nearby shop.

Members of the public provided initial first aid, whilst police and ambulance crews arrived shortly afterwards.

Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, he died at the scene.

A Home Office post-mortem examination concluded that James sustained four stab wounds to the torso, with two wounds to the chest and abdomen proving to be fatal.

James Quigley

Gang tensions

The attack and the movements of the suspects both prior to the incident and afterwards were captured on CCTV.

Detectives worked over the following four days to identify and locate the suspects, and Hammett and Howell were arrested on Saturday 21 January 2023.

They were taken into police custody for questioning, before being charged with murder two days later.

During the trial, the court heard that the motive for the attack was most likely due to tensions between rival gangs from Norwich.

James Quigley had an association with a gang called ‘OTM’, which stands for ‘Only The Money’.

Hammett – who had previously lived in Norwich – was associated with another gang from there called ‘3rdside’, who were rivals of ‘OTM’.

Joshua Howell had links to the Nacton gang in Ipswich - also known as ‘IP3’ – who the prosecution attest had formed a level of cooperation with ‘3rdside’.

Alfie Hammett did not give evidence during the trial, but his defence disputed that he was the man who attacked James Quigley – referred to as ‘Male 1’ by the prosecution.

Joshua Howell did take the stand to give evidence and denied being affiliated with IP3.

He claimed he had not previously met ‘Male 1’ and said he had gone out to make a drug deal that day and was carrying a machete for his own protection.

He said after making the deal, he had only walked through town with ‘Male 1’ to show him the way to a kebab shop in Westgate Street and the attack had occurred spontaneously, without his prior knowledge.

His defence for drawing his machete was that he feared being attacked by the other group.

The jury rejected Howell’s defence and were also satisfied that the police evidence proved that Alfie Hammett was indeed ‘Male 1’, finding them both guilty by unanimous verdicts on all counts.

Bleed kits campaign

James Quigley and Margaret Oakes

Since his death, James' mother, Margaret Oakes, has spent her time raising money and fighting to get specialist kits, which stem extreme blood loss, installed in the East.

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio previously, she told us: "I think it's very important that these are out here, because I don't think there's many around, and they're not funded.

"These kits can stop and prevent a bleed. They can help stop lung collapses, if somebody has had a car accident for example."

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