Chichester step-brothers jailed for knife crimes after teenager's death

Two drug-dealing step brothers from Chichester have been jailed for serious knife crimes - one of which resulted in the death of teenager Luke Jeffrey.
Luke JeffreyLuke Jeffrey
Luke Jeffrey

Samuel Morgan, 20, or Adelaide Road, Chichester, was handed a four-year prison sentence for possession of a knife in a public place over the death of Mr Jeffrey, who was 18 when he was fatally injured by a single knife wound on March 11, 2016.

In passing sentence today, judge Christine Laing QC said Mr Jeffrey’s death over a £20 drug dispute an ‘utterly senseless loss of life’.

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But, she said, she had to respect the fact that a jury had earlier cleared Morgan of both murder and manslaughter.

Morgan was also sentenced to a further two years, to run consecutively, for his part in a separate incident on April 19, 2015, in which his step-brother, Brandon Attwater, 18, admitted stabbing Simon Wilmott in the stomach.

Attwater, who was 16 at the time, was jailed for five years at a sentencing at Hove Crown Court.

Mr Wilmott, a Chichester College student like Mr Jeffrey, required life-saving surgery after being stabbed by Attwater and remained in intensive care for three days.

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The court heard how Morgan arranged a fake drug deal with Mr Wilmott to lure him close to Chichester Festival Theatre, so he, Attwater and another, unidentified man, could set on him in a pre-planned attack.

At an earlier trial, Morgan was found not guilty of knowing Attwater had been carrying a knife or planning to stab Mr Wilmott in the attack on April 19, 2015.

Attwater pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was handed a five-year sentence.

Sentencing Morgan, judge Laing QC said: ‘Given a jury found you not guilty of either murder or manslaughter, I have to sentence you on the basis that you possessed the knife not intending to do Luke Jeffrey any serious harm.

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‘But by taking the knife the risk of serious harm was very real and this action by you ended with tragic consequences.’

Morgan was sentenced to a total of six years; four for possession of a knife in a public place on March 11, 2016; and two years for unlawful wounding on April 19, 2015.

Both Morgan and Attwater will serve their sentences at a young offenders’ institute because of their age.