The heartbroken mum of a 20-year-old man stabbed to death by a stranger has spoken of her pain after his killer was jailed.
Dylan Keelan was murdered by Klayton Skelly, 18, during a fight outside the Premier Dreams convenience store, in Dukinfield, on February 4. Tragically, Dylan's mum Nicola Wardle first heard about his death while scrolling through Facebook that night.
Paying tribute to Dylan shortly after his death, Nicola described him as a "nice chirpy, cheery lad with a big smile and blue eyes", who would "do anything for anybody". Almost nine months on, Nicola read a moving victim impact statement to Minshull Street Crown Court before Skelly, of Sylvester Way, Hyde, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison.
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She told the hearing that Dylan was killed just two weeks before his 21st birthday. "I don’t understand why people carry knives and I don’t know why Klayton used a knife on Dylan," she said. "He was only going to the shop and he didn’t come home."
"Not only has Klayton taken Dylan’s life but it has been for nothing. It knocks me sick when I open the cutlery drawer and see a knife.
"My mum and I are usually strong people but I haven’t been able to live back at my home address where Dylan lived with me. It feels empty without him."
As well as being Dylan's mum, she was also his colleague, and says she has been unable to go back to her job at a factory as it reminds her of him. She added: "I feel I will never come to terms with the passing of my little boy. It doesn’t seem real.
"I wake up in the morning hoping it’s a bad dream but I realise it isn’t - I’m living a nightmare every single day."
Following the hearing, Nicola spoke to the press outside court and admitted that she was happy with the sentence handed to Skelly. She said: "I just wish Dylan could be here today and we didn’t have to go through this.
"He wasn’t in any gangs or anything like that. He was just a normal boy and I’m going to miss him so much."
Answering a question about Skelly, she added: "I just feel sick when I see him. I don’t he knows what he’s done himself or the extent of the hurt. I know he pleaded guilty but that was last minute and there’s no remorse at all."
Pair were strangers when attack happened
The court heard how the pair had never met before the fatal attack. Dylan had been at a party when he went to the store to buy more drinks, with his friend.
When they left, Skelly and his friends were heading inside and CCTV footage played to the court appeared to show a minor brushing of shoulders between Dylan and Skelly as they walked past each other.
They turned to face each other and the court heard that Dylan asked Skelly: “What are you looking at, you got a problem?” Skelly responded: “What, you stupid, you want a fight?”
The pair then start to fight and Skelly pulled a combat knife, with a 26cm serrated blade, from his waistband. Dylan threw punches towards Skelly and tried to put his shopping bag between them.
During the brawl, Skelly dropped his knife and his two friends joined in to start attacking Dylan as well, although they later told police that they had initially got involved to split it up. Both of Skelly’s friends continued to punch and kick Dylan, which allowed Skelly to pick up his knife.
After threatening to stab Dylan’s friend unless he ran away, Skelly swung the knife towards Dylan twice and caused two wounds to his chest. One of the blows was so forceful that it caused Dylan’s body to turn. He collapsed and died moments later.
After running away, Skelly hid the knife in undergrowth before returning home, Mr Hall told the court. It was three days later, after being confronted by his family, that Skelly handed himself into police - he also handed in his blood-stained clothes and told officers where he had dumped the knife.
The court heard that Skelly had been exploited by county lines drug dealing gangs since he was 15 and when interviewed, told police that he carried a knife ‘for protection’. When his phone was examined by police, it was discovered that Skelly’s mother and sister had tried to talk him out of carrying a weapon, with one text from his mum reading: “I don’t want to lose you but if this carries on you’re going to end up dead or in prison.”
Skelly, now 18, pleaded guilty to murder on July 15 - the last working day before his scheduled trial. His two friends, both 16, were sentenced to 12 month referral orders at the youth court.
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