A group of knife-wielding thugs were caught on camera stalking a “beloved” dad before they chased him down a street and stabbed him to death. Clips reveal how balaclava-clad Benjamin Bibby, 21, and Andrew Wilcock, 29, darted through dimly lit alleyways in their pursuit of their victim, Lee Dawson, 42.
And when they caught up with the father, who they’d met at a party just hours earlier, they left him with several fatal stab wounds, which penetrated his chest cavity. Lee had initially tried to face off against the two men and another attacker, Robert Cross, 34, after they had laid in wait for him just before 3am on June 17 last year.
But after the three men hared after Lee along a darkened street, he tripped and fell, allowing Bibby and Wilcock to carry out the horrific killing. Both Bibby and Wilcock received minimum life sentences of 24 years following a three-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
Robert Cross, 34, was convicted of manslaughter and given 15 years in prison, while Kerry-Ann Metcalf also received 15 years in jail after being found guilty of assisting an offender.
Following the sentencing, Lee’s mum, Christine Dawson, said the jail time her son’s killers had been given wouldn’t replace the “heartache” of his loss.
She said: “No sentence imposed will bring back a much-loved son, brother, father and friend or reflect the heartache and pain these people have inflicted on our family.
“Now the trial is over, it feels like a line has been drawn under Lee’s life. A mother should not have to witness her son die. Lee had so much to live for and these people have taken that away.
“We have to live with this huge loss and emptiness. We have to now plan and live a life without Lee in it and I am so angry that these people have put us in this position. I am not letting them make us victims. Why would I give them that satisfaction? They have taken enough from us.”
Lee was mercilessly killed in the early hours of June 17 last year after he had returned to his home town of Preston, Lancs., from Sunderland for a funeral. He was with family the day before and then attended a house party on Driscoll Street at around 2 am, where he punched Bibby in the face following an argument.
Bibby and Wilcock then left the home before returning to confront Lee with knives while wearing face coverings. But after police arrived at the address, they waited for Lee in a different location, finally coming across him and his friend on East Street at 2.47 am.
During the confrontation, Lee removed his top and wrapped it around his arm. Both Bibby and Wilcock swung knives in Lee’s direction.
It was then that Robert Cross came on the scene having run along East Street, with Kerry-Ann Metcalf walking behind him. Lee was chased along East Street by Bibby and Cross, followed by Wilcock. He ran 85 metres to Jutland Street but was attacked when he fell to the floor.
He was stabbed several times, the fatal wound penetrating his chest cavity to a depth of 16cm. Mr Dawson managed to get up momentarily but was found on the pavement with serious injuries and pronounced dead at 4.05 am.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Haworth-Oates, of Lancashire Police’s Force Major Investigation Team, said after the sentence the killers had shown “senseless violence”.
He said: “Sadly, yet again, we have a case where a man has lost his life through this kind of senseless violence.
“Bibby and Wilcock could have walked away from their argument with Mr Dawson at any time but instead they went to collect knives, put on face coverings and lay in wait from him to come past before attacking him.
“Cross happened across this incident by chance but again they had a choice. He took the choice of joining the knife wielding attackers, further outnumbering Mr Dawson and chased him down the street where he was stabbed to death.
“All of those involved left Mr Dawson on the pavement to die – something that his family have had to watch play out during the trial as they try to come to terms with his loss.”
