Tim Hawkins and Edward Wrenn report on the 12-day murder trial and the impact alcohol has on town centre violence in the county.


Friends and family of David Haynes cheered as Shilesh Patel was yesterday jailed for 18 years after being found guilty of murder.

Patel, 26, of Winstanley Road, Wellingborough, was unanimously found guilty of killing Mr Haynes outside a Wellingborough kebab shop last August.

Mr Haynes' family cheered in the public gallery as the guilty verdict was given, while several members of Patel's family wept.

Patel's girlfriend Sophie wept quietly with her hand over her face while he stared at the floor as he stood in the dock at Northampton Crown Court.

His barrister, Jeremy Gold, said: "Shilesh has completed a degree in product design and was looking forward to a perfectly normal adult life. He was planning to marry his girlfriend. All of that is going to have to go on hold now."

Members of Mr Haynes' family shook their heads as Mr Gold told the court Patel had expressed genuine remorse throughout his police interviews.

The jury also found Shilesh Patel and his co-defendants Nimesh Patel, 24, of Covington Road, Wellingborough, and Sandeep Phull, 22, of Westcott Way, Northampton, not guilty of conspiracy to murder and not guilty of conspiracy to wound.

Mr Justice Mackay allowed them to return majority verdicts on these charges.

But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on murder charges for Phull and Nimesh Patel. The jury was discharged and prosecutors will return today to announce whether they will pursue the charges.

Mr Haynes had been out celebrating his 21st birthday on the night he was stabbed with a 12-inch carving knife outside Delight Kebab in Wellingborough in the early hours of August 26 last year.

He had been drinking in Bar Life when his group of friends clashed with Patel's group after a drink had been spilled. His deaf cousin Shane McLeod became involved, but although there was no trouble inside the nightspot in Commercial Way, tensions flared outside when Patel was surrounded and punched several times by a friend of the victim.

During the 10-day murder trial jurors heard how the attack caused no physical damage to Patel, but "damaged his pride". He went home with his two accomplices to get three knives, armed himself with a carving knife and went back to confront the group, which was by then in Silver Street, near Delight Kebab.

Mr Haynes recognised Patel as one of the men who had been involved in the earlier confrontations and walked over to him – an action which cost him his life.

Patel uncovered the weapon and thrust it once into Mr Haynes' stomach with such force it almost came out of the student's back.

Bleeding heavily, Mr Haynes managed to stagger towards a friend's car parked on the other side of the road, before collapsing.

An ambulance was called and took him to Kettering General Hospital, where doctors battled in vain for 12 hours to save his life.

A group of Mr Haynes' friends began to chase the three men, who had fled the scene as soon as the stabbing had happened.

Nimesh Patel was cornered by a group and beaten unconscious. He was taken to Kettering General Hospital and needed treatment for "serious injuries", while another group of medics were fighting to save the life of David. Police found Shilesh Patel cowering in a group of bushes. He was taken to Wellingborough station and charged with David's murder.