Boy, 16, jailed for life for murdering teen who ‘tried to protect his friend’

A 16-year-old boy has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing to death a teenager who was trying to diffuse an argument outside McDonald’s.

Ben Moncrieff had been on a night out with friends in Bath city centre before he was murdered in the street in the early hours of Saturday, May 6 this year.

The attacker, who was 15 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, plunged a blade into Mr Moncrieff’s chest after he’d stepped in as a ‘peacemaker’ to break up a confrontation.

Despite the best efforts of people in the area and paramedics, he died at the scene in Southgate Street at around 3.30am.

Bristol Crown Court heard how Mr Moncrieff and his pals had left a club and were walking towards McDonald’s when they encountered a group of males in possession of balloons and suspected nitrous oxide gas cannisters.

CCTV footage showed a verbal altercation between the defendant – who was under the influence of ‘laughing gas’ – and one of Mr Moncrieff’s friends.

Jurors were told that Mr Moncrieff stepped in at that point to protect his friend and one witness heard the defendant tell the victim to ‘come around the corner’.

The defendant, who is from south London, is then seen to take a step back and drop a gas cannister as Ben approaches him, before pulling out the weapon and stabbing the 18-year-old to death.

He fled the scene and dumped the knife in a bin nearby, which was recovered by officers. He was arrested a short time later and made no comment during police interviews.

A murder investigation was launched and hours of footage were trawled through by detectives.

One CCTV camera showed the defendant lift up his top before the stabbing and reveal to people he had a bladed weapon tucked into his waistband.

Mark Cotter KC, prosecuting, told the court: ‘The Crown’s position is that the defendant entered into an argument with a friend of Mr Moncrieff and Mr Moncrieff entered as a peacemaker.’

He was convicted of murder following a six-day trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article in a public place.

His Honour Judge Peter Blair KC said that given the devastating impact on Mr Moncrieff’s family, friends and the communities of Bath no sentence could be considered long enough. 

He stressed that the defendant had gone out with a knife, while Mr Moncrieff’s hands were empty.

The victim’s mother Sharon Hendry also read an emotional personal statement to the court.

‘Ben filled our home with his friends, laughter, and made our home a happy place, full of life,’ she said.

She said she last saw him getting ready and going for a rare night out with his girlfriend and then rushing to his side after getting the call that he had been stabbed.

Sharon said: ‘I did not have the chance to hold Ben and tell him how much I love him. I was too late, I couldn’t comfort Ben. A mum’s worst nightmare.

‘Ben’s room stays just as he left it. I go into Ben’s room every day to think of the memories that I have.’

Ms Hendry described seeing Ben in the mortuary and the ongoing physical and mental impact of her loss and added: ‘I feel totally destroyed and now have a life sentence without Ben.’

Jeremy Wainwright KC, defending, said the teenager had been diagnosed with ADHD and had acted ‘impulsively’ and had made ‘inappropriate decisions’.

‘He was out and about at the time with older people who had possibly a negative effect upon him,’ he said.

‘It is very difficult during the course of the trial for expressions of remorse to take place but those who have spoken to him say there is some level of awareness.’

Imposing a life sentence, Judge Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, said the youth would serve a minimum term of 15 years’ custody.

He said: ‘There have been some lovely things said about Ben Moncrieff in the impact statements, which I have read before coming into court and the one read by his mother in court.

‘The effect of Ben’s wholly unwarranted and untimely death has been completely devastating to the community of people he was a part of in Bath and his memory will live on,’ the judge said.

‘As a consequence, no one is going to remember the child in the dock whose senseless act has robbed them of a life.’

The judge added: ‘Ben Moncrieff intervened to calm it down but you wanted to show off and in an act of stupid childish bravado you didn’t want to forget.

‘I accept your contact with Ben Moncrieff was minimal, but you took a knife to the scene and it was your actions that led to a penetrating injury to his heart.’

Speaking after the sentencing, senior investigating officer Mark Newbury said: ‘Ben was tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was an innocent man trying to defend a friend when he was stabbed and killed.

‘The defendant made a conscious decision to take a knife with him that day and attack a defenceless young man. It was a decision that has cost him his freedom, but more importantly one person’s life.

‘The murder investigation that followed involved a large amount of police resources from across all directorates and we are pleased to have secured Ben’s loved ones the answers to the questions they so richly deserved.

‘The courage his friends and family have shown ever since Ben’s death has been quite incredible and I want to personally thank them for the support they have shown us.

‘Today may see the end of the court process, but their grief and pain remains raw. It is clear how loved Ben was and how much he will always be missed by those who knew him.’

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