Coleen Campbell was called a f****** slag as she and two of her co-conspirators were jailed over the horrific killing of her ex-husband. Members of Thomas Campbell's family claimed she was 'smiling' as she was sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter.
One man in the public gallery called her a 'f****** slag' as sentencing was being passed, before leaving the court. "If I hear another word from the public gallery I will clear it instantly," the judge, Mr Justice Julian Goose, said.
Coleen Campbell, 38, will serve two-thirds of her 13 year sentence in prison, meaning she is likely to serve around eight-and-a-half years. Moments earlier, Mr Justice Goose had sentenced Reece Steven, 29, one of the three attackers who ambushed Mr Campbell on July 2 last year, to a life sentence with a minimum term of 37 years.
READ MORE: How Thomas Campbell was betrayed by a woman who claimed to love him
He will be in his 60s when he is considered for release. Stephen Cleworth, 38, who played a key role in preparations leading up to the killing, was also handed a life sentence.
He will serve at least 12 years before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
This is everything the judge said when he sentenced the trio, who were all also found guilty to conspiring to rob Mr Campbell, at Bolton Crown Court earlier.
"At about 11pm at night on the 2nd July 2022, three men carried out an armed robbery and an horrific murder on Riverside, Mossley in Greater Manchester. Their target was Thomas Campbell.
"They waited for his return home and for him to open the front door, then the three men attacked him. Thomas Campbell was strong and resisted, but he was overcome, being stabbed at least once at the front door and then being dragged inside.
"The door was closed and he was then subjected to prolonged and shocking violence for almost two hours. He was stripped of his clothing, bound up hand and foot with duct tape and repeatedly stabbed.
"He was tortured, being slashed repeatedly to both sides of his face, and struck heavy blows to the head. Scalding hot liquid was poured on his skin, to his genitals and between his legs.
"He was dragged around the house as he was bleeding and brutally attacked both on the ground floor of the house and outside a child’s bedroom. The house was ransacked in the search for what the robbers wanted.
"Rooms were turned over and a bed was slashed open. It cannot be known if they recovered anything.
"They wanted to know where Thomas Campbell kept his money, his expensive watches, and his drugs. This was a robbery of a drug dealer by other drug dealers who were part of an organised crime group.
"Thomas Campbell refused to tell them what they wanted to know. Before leaving they took great care to disguise their appearance and to remove any evidence of their presence at the scene.
"Blood stained walls and surfaces were washed where there were hand or footprints; no DNA evidence was left. The CCTV hard drive, smoke alarm and video doorbell were taken, all to inhibit a police investigation.
"Thomas Campbell was left, still naked, bleeding and bound at his ankles. As the three men left, a call was made to the police from Thomas Campbell’s phone.
"He was the caller, but was unable to speak. During the trial the recording was played.
"It was possible to hear what could only have been Thomas Campbell try to say something. Those must have been his dying moments.
"His death was caused by multiple knife injuries, blunt force head injuries and asphyxiating pressure to the neck. I reject the suggestion that one of those men made the 999 call before leaving the house.
"After the extensive violence used it is not credible that a kind or merciful act would have taken place. Those men drove away and destroyed evidence, throwing important items into a canal and by setting fire to them.
"Different vehicles with cloned registration plates, or with no connection to the robbers, were used in both the build-up and the aftermath of what happened. A tracking device had been used on the Thomas Campbell’s van, to trace his movements.
"Repeated visits were made to his home in preparation for the robbery. This had been a carefully organised and planned offence. The jury have found you Reece Steven, guilty of both conspiracy to rob Thomas Campbell and of his murder, you Stephen Cleworth, of conspiracy to rob but of manslaughter, as have you Coleen Campbell. Your roles in these offences are not the same.
"Reece Steven was one of the three men who carried out the robbery and murdered Thomas Campbell. He was at the centre of it with John Belfield, who has so far evaded arrest.
"As one of the three men, Reece Steven jointly attacked, tortured, and murdered Thomas Campbell. Stephen Cleworth was also centrally involved in the conspiracy, with Reece Steven and Belfield right up to the day before the robbery took place.
"Whilst he was not one of the three men, he had not withdrawn from the conspiracy. He spent the 2nd July 2022 drinking and taking drugs, but had been fully engaged, knowing that the robbery would take place and that violence would be necessary.
"Coleen Campbell, as the former wife of Thomas Campbell, was part of the planning and organisation for the robbery. She was aware of the use of a vehicle tracker.
"She provided important information about Thomas Campbell’s movement, his vehicle details and where he lived. She was told that he was to be robbed and knew that violence would be necessary.
"Each of you must be sentenced for your part in this carefully planned, highly organised robbery and for the killing of Thomas Campbell. In respect of each of you I do not consider that a pre-sentence report is necessary.
"Before I turn to your sentencing, it is important that the effect of your offending upon the family of Thomas Campbell must be heard. Terry Campbell, Thomas’ father, and Daniel Campbell, his brother, have provided victim personal statements which were read to the court, in which they describe movingly the profound grief that the killing has had on their family.
"Despite the difficulties he had, he was clearly loved by his family. It has affected all of them and has now left Thomas Campbell’s two children without a father, others without a brother and a son.
"Reece Steven, you are aged 29 and have previous convictions for three offences of robbery, two of them with weapons, in 2014. You received a sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment, but were released on licence, to which you were subject at the time of these offences. In fact, you had already breached the terms of your licence and were awaiting arrest.
"Your conviction for murder means that a sentence of imprisonment for life must be imposed. In fixing the minimum term which you must serve before you could apply for release, it is correctly accepted on your behalf that the starting point must be 30 years, because this was a murder in the course of a robbery for gain.
"I do not find that sadism was a feature of this offence, because the injuries caused were part of torture to obtain information of the whereabouts of the drugs and valuables. This offence of murder was substantially aggravated in its seriousness by the following, the degree of planning, the gross suffering caused to the deceased over almost two hours before he died, your previous convictions for robbery, you were on licence and had been recalled to prison when you committed these offences, and you were part of the destruction of evidence, at the very least, in the clean-up at the scene.
"In mitigation I accept that your intention was not to kill, but that must be substantially tempered by the prolonged suffering caused to the deceased before he died. There is little more that can be said in mitigation on your behalf.
"Your sentence for conspiracy to rob will be served concurrently with your life sentence. This was a category A1 offence, with use of weapons in significant force and causing serious harm.
"I have concluded that the correct guideline is the robbery within a dwelling, rather than a commercial robbery. It must however, fall at the top of the range, because of the prolonged nature of the offence, the restraint used, the torture inflicted and destruction of evidence at the scene.
"Stephen Cleworth, you are aged 38 and have previous convictions in 2008, for three serious offences of section 18 wounding with Intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and in 2016 for a further wounding offence. Those offences involved the use of knives to cause serious injuries.
"Your conviction for manslaughter falls within culpability A of the Unlawful Act manslaughter Guideline, because of a combination of three culpability B factors, it was death in the course of an unlawful act, where your intention was harm falling short of really serious harm, there was a high risk of really serious harm which ought to have been obvious, because the deceased was never going to give you what you wanted without serious violence being inflicted, and the unlawful act which caused the death was itself a very serious offence.
"This establishes a starting point for sentence of 18 years. It was substantially aggravated in its seriousness by the significant and professional planning for the robbery and your previous convictions for wounding.
"In mitigation, you have a son, with whom you are in regular contact, as you are with your own family. Further, you were not present when the robbery and killing occurred.
"However, you were fully and centrally engaged in the planning and preparation right up to the day the robbery took place. You knew that harm would be caused to the victim and whilst you did not intend really serious harm, you ought to have known that it was a possibility.
"Stephen Cleworth, I have reached the sure conclusion that you are a dangerous offender, because you are a significant risk of causing serious harm by further specified offences. Your previous convictions for wounding offences, together with your convictions in this trial provide clear evidence of your dangerousness.
"Also, I have concluded that these offences of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob are sufficiently serious to justify a sentence of imprisonment for life under s.285 Sentencing Act 2020, which I shall impose on you.
"Your sentence for conspiracy to rob will also be served concurrently with your sentence for manslaughter, I have already taken it into account when determining the offence category.
"The conspiracy to rob was a category A1 offence, for the reasons I have already given, with a starting point of 13 years. It must however fall, towards the top of the range, because of the degree of planning and that death resulted.
"Coleen Campbell, you are aged 38. You received a suspended sentence of Imprisonment in 2019 for an offence of concealing criminal property, which I do not consider to be significantly relevant to your sentencing.
"Your conviction for manslaughter must also fall within culpability A, because of the combination of three culpability B factors, providing a starting point for sentence of 18 years. The offence is aggravated in its seriousness by the significant planning of which you were aware and played a significant part, and that you deleted important data from your mobile phone.
"In mitigation, you were not present when the robbery occurred to know of the extent of the violence used, and you have been the primary carer for your younger three children. Further, you do not have previous convictions for violence.
"Your sentence for conspiracy to rob will also be served concurrently with your sentence for manslaughter, because I have taken it into account in fixing the offence category for that offence. Under the Robbery Dwelling Guideline, this is an A1 offence for the reasons I have already given. It is aggravated in seriousness by the degree of planning and that death resulted.
"Stand up each of you. Reece Steven I sentence you on count 2, murder, to imprisonment for life. After taking into account the substantial aggravating factors and those available which mitigate, the minimum term of custody you must serve before you could be considered for release is 37 years.
"Upon your release you will be subject to licence and possible recall for the rest of your life. On count 1, conspiracy to rob, I sentence you to a concurrent sentence of 16 years. Sit down.
"Stephen Cleworth, I sentence you on count 2, manslaughter, to imprisonment for life. The notional sentence I would have imposed on you for that offence, taking into account the aggravating and mitigating factors, is 18 years with the minimum term you must serve before you could be considered for release is 12 years, less 226 days already served on remand.
"Upon your release you will be also subject to licence and possible recall for the rest of your life. On count 1, conspiracy to rob, I sentence you to a concurrent sentence of 14 years. Sit down.
"Coleen Campbell, after taking into account the aggravating and mitigating factors, but before your personal mitigation, the sentence I would have imposed on you on count 2, manslaughter, would have been 16 years. I reduce that sentence significantly to 13 years, for your personal mitigation concerning your children.
"On count 1, I sentence you to a concurrent sentence of 10 years, making a total sentence of 13 years. You will serve 2/3 of that sentence, less 223 days you have spent on remand."
Sign up to our courts newsletter to get the latest updates to your inbox
READ NEXT:
- Thomas Campbell's ex-wife jailed for 13 years as his killers face justice for beloved dad's brutal death
- 'Like a ripple in a pond': What Coleen Campbell's barrister said in court
- 'Coleen has been telling the children she'll be coming home soon - but she's going to jail for killing their dad'
- Moment 'mastermind' fugitive met with one of Thomas Campbell's killers in takeaway hours before brutal murder
