Men jailed after 'Good Samaritan' killing retrial

Two men have been jailed for killing a "Good Samaritan" who stepped in to help a 17-year-old girl who had been assaulted.

Reece Radford, 26, was fatally stabbed when he intervened in the altercation in Arundel Gate, Sheffield, in 2022.

Louis James and Dereck Owusu were originally jailed for life in 2023 after being convicted of Radford's murder, but after appealing against their convictions a retrial was held and James was convicted of murder while Owusu was instead found guilty of manslaughter.

At Leeds Crown Court on Friday, James, 50, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years, while Owusu, 43, was sentenced to 14 years.

During the original trial, the court heard Radford had confronted the pair after he witnessed Owusu punching the girl in the face in Arundel Gate in the early hours of 29 September 2022.

The jury was told that Radford, who had met the girl briefly earlier that night, saw Owusu striking the teenager "with such force that she fell to the ground", and he intervened by punching Owusu in the face.

"He did so in order to protect a young female who he had just seen being punched," prosecutor David Temkin KC said at the time.

Owusu, previously of Strathmore Grove, Rotherham, and James, previously of Manor Lane, Sheffield, then attacked Radford, with James stabbing him.

Radford died in hospital six days later as a result of a stab wound.

Following their retrial and sentencing, Det Insp Adam Watkinson, from South Yorkshire Police, said he was "glad" Radford's family "finally have closure and that the pair responsible for an innocent man's death have once more been returned to jail where they belong".

"Reece acted as a Good Samaritan, going out of his way to defend a young person who he did not know," Watkinson said.

"He should not have had to pay for this act of kindness with his life."

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