by A 22-year-old man was beaten to death by two men “to teach him a lesson” after he told someone he was going to rob them. Courtney McLeary threw the knife and dropped it into a cupboard Davis Anderson and co-defendant David Francis tried to stop a witness from leaving the room before he went alone.
Shocking CCTV played at their trial showed the much-loved “brightest star in the sky” calling for help after being fatally wounded in the reception area of the block of flats where he was attacked. As he did so, McLeary and his partner and the third defendant, his partner Lisa Barlow, casually stood over him and fled the scene with the weapon, which was never recovered.
Sentencing five people for their involvement in the killing, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said: “In the early hours of April 28, 2023, a young man, Davis Anderson, lost his life. knife.
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“He had other injuries but that was the fatal injury. There is evidence that you, David Francis, did not leave the room when he started and tried to stop a witness from leaving the room and then entered.
“He was only 22 years old and, as we have heard, he was a much loved son, father, brother and uncle. Soon you will both be in his life.
“This was a joint attack by two people on one man to teach him a lesson. After that it is clear that you, McLeary, and Barlow, took any weapons that were used from the scene and nothing was ever found.”
The trial was told that the victim and McLeary had been out scoring drugs on the night of the killing and had returned to the killer’s flat in High Cross Leys, off Huntingdon Street. While there Mr Anderson told someone else inside that he was going to rob McLeary and Francis and the two then attacked him.
McLeary and Barlow then left the address with the weapons concealed under the woman’s salmon-coloured coat and went to the nearby home of the fourth defendant, Gregory Bailey, and then later to the address of the fifth, Danny O’ Keefe, McLeary bay. after which he was arrested.
Prosecutor Andre Vout KC told the hearing that Mr Anderson was one of eight biological children to the same mother and had three other siblings by adoption and a four-year-old daughter. He said he grew up in the care system.
Mr Vout said: “There was no evidence of any violence at the flat at all (before the stabbing). He was not a threat to anyone.
“Mr McLeary flew across the room to attack Mr Anderson. After the stabbing, Mr McLeary was described as ‘gloating in the doorway’. Lisa Barlow was hiding a weapon under her salmon-coloured coat and went to Mr Bailey’s home address.”
Mr Anderson’s sister Rhianna Anderson bravely read her own victim impact statement to the court. She said in it: “I’ve lost my best friend as well as my sister. He loved children and will never get the chance to raise his daughter. I’ve lost a big part of my life and things will never be the same again. This is an unbearable pain that no one should feel. David’s heart was pure and he had so much love to give.
The victim’s brother, Kai, said in a statement: “My brother and my best friend was taken from me without the chance to say goodbye.” In her statement another sister said: “I am broken and the effect this has had on me and my family is terrible.”
Hayley Anderson, the victim’s mother, said in her impact statement: “Life changed on April 28, 2023, forever. No one expects to bury their child only to lose it in such a terrible way it is heartbreaking beyond measure . His soul was kind and bright and he is now the brightest star in the sky looking down on us every day.”
McLeary, 54, of High Cross Leys and 61-year-old Francis, of Swale Grove, Bingham, both were found guilty of murder. The jury also found co-defendants O’Keefe, 50, of Keswick Court, Sneintonand Bailey, 51, of Comyn Gardens, St Anne, both 50, guilty of assisting an offender in relation to Mr Anderson’s death.
Barlow, 45, of High Cross Leys, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender before the jury was sworn in. McLeary was sentenced to life and told he would be eligible for parole for 19 years.
Rossano Scamardella KC, his barrister, said: “Rather than being planned, this must have been a spontaneous decision made quickly. This was a quick and unpleasant incident (but) not a situation where there was any planning.
“Mr. Anderson told at least one person in the apartment that he intended to rob Francis and McLeary. He faces the terrifying prospect of life imprisonment with a lengthy custodial element. He will leave an old man from prison and what is left of his life will probably be a ruin.”
Francis was also jailed for life and told it would be 16 and a half years before he could apply for release. Laurie-Anne Power KC, mitigating, said: “There is no evidence of what David Francis did physically to involve himself in the attack and (we say) he can be separated from Courtney McLeary. (It is said) he stayed behind. at the scene to prevent Mr Anderson from reporting to the police.
“Over the past twenty years, David Francis has made several attempts to do something with his life. He owned a jewelery shop and was a sound engineer at a baptist church. He then spent a significant period in Jamaica but returned to be closer to his family. In 2022, he suffered a severe stroke which left him with life-limiting conditions.”
The other three defendants were jailed for two years each.
