n manslaughter victim Shaun Forde, and police and forensic officers outside the house in Crosland Moor
Fatal blow during tussle over stolen champagne
A MAN suffered a fatal stab wound to his back in a row over stolen champagne.
And the man who inflicted the fatal blow in Crosland Moor was today starting four and a half years in jail.
Jermaine Coore was convicted of the manslaughter of Shaun Forde at Bradford Crown Court.
The 35-year-old Huddersfield victim died when a dispute over some stolen champagne erupted in violence.
Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how Forde had stolen about £300 worth of champagne from a New Year's Eve function and that one of those involved in the event, 26-year-old Coore, had been seeking compensation from him.
Coore, of no fixed abode, had tried to speak to Mr Forde a few days later, but after Mr Forde was sent to prison the two men had no further contact until June.
The court heard that Mr Forde, who had an extensive list of previous convictions, had been released from jail just four days before his death.
Coore's barrister Thomas Bayliss QC said his client had made the fatal mistake of going to see him again about the champagne.
In a later interview with police Coore claimed the two men had been talking in a dimly-lit bedroom at the home of Mr Forde's girlfriend in Gilbert Grove, Crosland Moor, when Mr Forde's manner changed and he told him to get out.
Coore said he saw something shiny in Mr Forde's hand and the court heard that during a struggle between the two men he inflicted the single, fatal stab wound to Mr Forde's back.
Coore had been due to stand trial on a murder charge, but prosecutor Martin Bethel QC explained why the Crown had accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter after further information had come to light about Mr Forde's own criminal record.
The court heard that Mr Forde had previous convictions for offences of violence, including wounding, and had also been involved in recent confrontations during which he had armed himself with various weapons.
In fact the kitchen knife which was used to cause the fatal injury had come from a set in the kitchen at the house in Gilbert Grove and Mr Bayliss stressed that it had been Mr Forde who had introduced the weapon into the incident between the two men.
"If that information were placed before a jury the prospects of them convicting on the offence of murder would have been extremely small and the most probable verdict on a trial would have been a verdict of manslaughter," conceded Mr Bethel.
After the stabbing Coore fled the scene in his car, but the court heard that he was the first person to ring 999 and request an ambulance.
He then arranged for his blood-stained clothes to be burned and his car to be hidden before travelling to Stafford.
Two days later he handed himself in at Huddersfield police station and told officers he had panicked after the stabbing.
Mr Bayliss handed in references from a retired parish priest and a senior social worker which gave details of Coore's efforts in running a local pub and helping with community programmes.
Although Coore had some previous convictions dating back to the 1990s Mr Bayliss told the Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Stephen Gullick, that the incident leading to the tragic death of Shaun Forde was truly out of character for his client.
"This case is distinct (from some other manslaughter cases) because it was not this accused who introduced the knife into the fight and that aggravating feature is absent," said Mr Bayliss.
He said as well as calling for an ambulance after the stabbing Coore had also expressed genuine remorse during his police interviews.
Jailing Coore Judge Gullick said the incident had led to a life being needlessly and unnecessarily lost.
"No doubt the Forde family are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of a son and brother," he added.
Judge Gullick said he could not replace a lost son and no sentence that he could pass could act as such a replacement.
In deciding on the appropriate sentence he said he had to take account of the context of the fight between the two men and the fact that Coore had gone to the house simply to speak to Mr Forde.
"You must understand - and those who use knives, even in terms of disarming or picking up a knife in the course of a fight must understand - that serious consequences in terms of their liberty will follow if firstly they have used the knife and secondly if a death is caused, albeit in this case the plea is accepted on the basis that you had no intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm," he told Coore.
