'The Shining' axe murder gang jailed for killing handyman who defended his girlfriend

A trio of teenagers who took part in a shocking knife and axe attack similar to the horror movie The Shining have been jailed.
Tragic Paul Thrower was killed after Zakariya Subeir and Kiro Halliburton, both 18, hacked at him with a 4ft long axe and stabbed him with a knife.

Mr Thrower, a handyman, was chasing the teenagers in a drunken rage after becoming furious about their conduct towards his girlfriend Geraldine Roberts at a block of flats in Hayes, west London.
Subeir and Halliburton claimed they acted in self defence when Mr Thrower smashed through a reinforced glass partition they were hiding behind on February 20 this year.
In the 1980 film The Shining, Jack Nicholson plays a man who is sent mad and attacks his family with an axe, before killing a man with the same weapon.
Following a trial, Halliburton, who delivered the fatal knife wound, was found guilty of murder while Subeir and an accomplice, Mahdi Osman, also 18, were found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

National

Killed: Paul Thrower suffered multiple wounds after the group set upon him

Sentencing Halliburton to a minimum of 16 years, Judge John Bevan said: "I accept Paul Thrower's behaviour was outlandish but he was provoked by you and others. I accept that his behaviour and that of Geraldine Roberts was inflammatory, drunken and pathetic."

But he added: "This was a wicked and unnecessary crime - a ranting, inebriate being no match for a knife and axe being wielded by young and fit teenagers."
"The carrying of knives has become endemic among some teenagers in parts of London and it is assumed to aid power and respect to the carrier. That is a delusion. It is the resort of a coward.
"You are a dangerous young man, aggressive when carrying a knife and lacked the courage to tell anything like the truth about this."

Met Police

Murder: Kiro Halliburton has been sentenced to a minimum of 16 years

The judge went on to sentence Subeir to eight years in a young offenders' institution with an extended licence period of a further four years, and Osman to five-and-a-half years for his lesser role.
A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was cleared of involvement in the killing.
The court heard how the victim had been drinking and became very angry when his girlfriend Geraldine Roberts told him the youths swore, spat and threw a drink at her earlier that day.
When Mr Thrower confronted them, Subeir and Halliburton shut themselves into a bin chute on a first-floor communal balcony.

Met Police

Brutal: The Axe used in the murder.

As the furious 46-year-old hammered with his fists on the glass partition, the 17-year-old found an axe in a shed and Osman passed it up to Subeir, who had managed to get onto the roof of the adjoining porch.
Osman told the court he only handed over the weapon to help his friends barricade themselves into the balcony - not to attack Mr Thrower.



But when Mr Thrower smashed the reinforced glass and began to crawl through the gap, Subeir hit him twice on the head and once on the shoulder with the axe and Halliburton stabbed him repeatedly in the back with a knife.
Halliburton said he delivered the fatal stab to the chest after Mr Thrower grabbed the axe from Subeir, who then ran off.

He told jurors that Mr Thrower had the axe in one hand and him in the other and he did not know what else to do.
The victim emerged from the bin chute covered in blood, staggering, holding the axe before he collapsed and died from a stab to the heart.
As the defendants ran away, Ms Roberts chased after them. She was one of a number of residents who had called 999 to alert police who arrived within minutes.
Afterwards, all the defendants scattered - according to them, because they thought they would not be believed.

Met Police

Jailed: Zakariya Subeir was found guilty of manslaughter

 Halliburton shaved off his plaits and fled to Leeds in Yorkshire. When he was apprehended, he gave a false name. The red-handled lock knife he used to kill Mr Thrower has never been recovered.
Subeir flew to Somalia, via Dubai, but came back about three weeks later and was arrested on the plane at Heathrow airport.
The 17-year-old and Osman went to ground and were arrested five days after the incident.
Before the murder, all the defendants apart from Halliburton had been involved in an incident earlier that evening at The Great Western pub nearby.

Met Police

Gang: Mahdi Osman was arrested five days after the killing

 

They were asked to leave and while they were standing outside, a landlord said one of them threatened to "shank or jook" him - street slang for stabbing.
In the years leading up to the murder, residents of St Dunstan's Close had complained about anti-social behaviour from groups of youths hanging around even though they did not live there.
The court heard that Halliburton had two previous convictions of possessing a knife or bladed weapon in 2012.
Subeir, of Uxbridge, Halliburton and Osman both of Hayes and the 17-year-old had all denied murder.

--MirrorUK