Man jailed for over 5 years for killing of 'much loved' Rowlands Castle dad Stephen Harrington after botched conspiracy to steal from Emsworth land

Stephen Harrington, 47, of Rowlands Castle, was asleep in his van when he was ambushed by Thomas Goldring, Joseph Butler and Tarin Linfield at his Marlpit Lane site on July 23 last year. The ‘cowardly’ trio had mistakenly believed there was cannabis to steal from the land before the attack that saw the victim die in hospital two days later.

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Lewes Crown Court heard how the ‘greedy’ three defendants went to the ‘remote and isolated’ spot armed with equipment. Linfield, 23, took a fire extinguisher, Butler, 23, was holding a lamp and Goldring, 21, with a piece of wood and a thermal imaging camera. Goldring, who the court heard had since killed himself, delivered the fatal ‘blow or blows’ to Mr Harrington, thought to be with the piece of wood.

Judge, Her Honour Justice Laing KC, said: ‘Mr Harrington worked long and hard to achieve his ambition of having his own work yard with a view to starting his own company. It was your dishonesty, greed and interest in drugs that led to the killing of that man on the land he had worked so hard to get.’

Linfield, who admitted manslaughter and conspiracy to steal, was told by the judge: ‘You believed cannabis was there although there was none. Stephen Harrington was sleeping in his van - something he regularly did when he worked on his land - and it was in a remote area and isolated. You knew there was a real possibility he would be there from a previous visit.’

The judge said the group going armed with equipment was an ‘indicator’ that they expected Mr Harrington could be present and was not a ‘spur of the moment’ crime. ‘It’s clear Mr Harrington was startled by your arrival and went to see what you were doing,’ she said.

Judge Laing said she accepted Butler was not near the van and had ‘no involvement’ in the killing. ‘The fatal blow or blows were dealt to Stephen Harrington by the late Mr Goldring,’ she said. But she stated Linfield was aware there could be ‘some harm’ potentially to Mr Harrington if he was disturbed. ‘It was you who discharged the fire extinguisher at him in all likelihood after Mr Goldring had struck him,’ she said.

The three ran off before returning to splash water on Mr Harrington’s face. Linfield put a pillow under the victim’s head and put him in the recovery position. Linfield claimed he tried to call 999 but was stopped by Goldring.

The judge said Mr Harrington was left to die by the trio while he was alive and left ‘exposed to the elements’ partially under his van that had blood splatters on it. ‘It was an act of complete moral cowardice,’ she said. The defendants had burnt their clothes after the incident, the court was told.

Paramedics were called in the morning by Goldring and Linfield’s partners who were sent to inspect the scene at around 11am. The emergency services found Mr Harrington breathing but unconscious and ‘not reacting or speaking’ before he was taken to Southampton General Hospital to remove a blood clot on his brain. ‘It was extremely unlikely he was going to survive and he never regained consciousness,’ prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said.

A pathologist said the cause of death was due to a ‘severe traumatic brain injury and skull fracture consistent with assault with a blunt object’.

Moving victim impact statements were read out to the court from Mr Harrington’s loved ones. His widow Hayley said her ‘whole world came crashing in’ after being told the devastating news about her ‘soulmate’. ‘Fear, panic and worry consumed every part of my body. I could barely breathe,’ she said.

She said watching their only child ‘on her father begging doctors to save him shatters my heart’, with her ‘haunted’ by the memory of her husband as he lay dying. Mrs Harrington said her life was now a ‘daily perpetuating nightmare’.

She asked the perpetrators: ‘Why do it? Why leave him to die?’ She added: ‘We are living a life sentence because of what you have done.’

Mr Harrington’s mum, Prissy, in a statement read out to the court, said she was ‘heartbroken’ with her son her ‘everything and my one my only’. She said Mr Harrington would visit her most days after work, adding: ‘Every night I now sit in tears.’

Prissy went on to say how she ‘doesn’t want to live’ any more. Speaking of the assailants, she said: ‘They killed him and left him to die. They are cowards.’

The judge said it was ‘distressing’ to hear the impact on Mr Harrington’s loved ones. ‘All of their lives are devastated by his loss. Their loss is unimaginable and no sentence I pass is intended to compensate their loss,’ she said.

The defendants were originally charged with his murder before Linfield, of Common Road, Hambrook, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to a charge of manslaughter and conspiracy to steal. He was jailed for five years and three months.

Goldring, 21, died in December 2022. As a result, his statements to the investigation could no longer be used as evidence in court.

Butler, 23, of Priors Leaze Lane, Hambrook, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to a charge of conspiracy to steal. He was given a 15-month jail term suspended for two years, and told to complete 30 rehabilitation days and 300 hours of unpaid work.

Det Chief Insp Gareth Hicks, senior investigating officer, said previously: ‘This is a tragic case that has resulted in the sudden and heart-breaking death of a completely innocent and much-loved family man.

‘From the outset, we’ve had to rely on the defendants’ accounts to try and piece together the events of that night. Unfortunately, only those who were there will ever know exactly what happened.

‘Our thoughts continue to be with Stephen’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time, and I hope this conviction of manslaughter will bring them some sense of closure.’

Mr Harrington's family described him as a ‘devoted and fiercely loyal’ dad, and hundreds of mourners attended his funeral in October.