Bewsey dad convicted of murder following stabbing jailed for life

BEWSEY dad James Ireland found guilty of the murder of Billy Moore has been jailed for life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years.

Ireland, 41, today (Thursday) appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced after being found guilty of murder last month. He was found not guilty of possession of a bladed article.

It followed a fatal stabbing n the evening of 22 December 2022, when Ireland knocked on the door of Billy Moore’s Yardley Avenue home seeking a confrontation after his two young relatives told him that a man fitting Billy’s description had shouted at them in the street a few minutes earlier.

Ireland launched a deadly attack on Billy Moore, stabbing him numerous times on his doorstep. Billy tried to defend himself, but Ireland continued to stab him repeatedly to the chest, neck and head. He then left Billy, at the point of collapse, bleeding in the hallway. Billy died a short time later of multiple stab wounds, despite the best efforts of paramedics to save him. Ireland’s two young relatives witnessed the killing and afterwards, as he walked away from the scene, he told them not to say anything before attempting to cover his tracks and hiding from police.

An investigation was launched and detectives from Cheshire Constabulary’s Major Investigation Team worked tirelessly over the Christmas period to secure vital evidence which led to James Ireland being charged with the murder of Billy Moore on the 26 December 2022. The investigation continued over the following months, with detectives conducting searches and piecing together Ireland’s movements both before and after the offence through CCTV, witness evidence and examination of mobile phone data.
Ireland claimed during the trial that he had acted in self defence.

Murder victim Billy Moore

Judge Andrew Menary KC, the Recorder of Liverpool, ordered that Ireland, of Lodge Lane, Bewsey, Warrington, serve a minimum of 19 years before he can apply for parole.
He said:“This was a senseless and pointless killing and resulted simply from your loss of temper and aggressive rage.”
He said that he was sure that Ireland “had simply lost your temper that night, that you were the aggressor, that you were not under threat of attack and were not to any extent acting in self-defence.”
Judge Menary continued, “During the attack, you saw an opportunity to arm yourself with a knife and having done that you repeatedly stabbed him.
“After the incident, you disposed of the knife and arranged for the clothing you had been wearing to be washed and you also instructed family members to delete messages – all in an effort to hide your involvement.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard that it happened in front of Ireland’s 14-year-old daughter and her 12-year-old cousin who had told him about remarks made to them by Billy just minutes earlier.
Judge Menary said that they should not feel any blame as Ireland’s reaction “could never have been foreseen by anyone.”
A moving impact statement was read to the court on behalf of Billy’s family and the judge said, “Their lives have been damaged irreparably not only by their loss but also by their knowledge of the senselessness of these events and the savage manner in which Billy was taken from them.”
He told Ireland, who has 20 previous convictions including violence, that he accepted that his intention that night “in the heat of the moment might have been to cause grievous bodily harm rather than to kill.”
The judge accepted that he has recognised cognitive and behavioural disorders but there was no evidence that they played any significant part in his behaviour that night.
Outlining the facts of the tragedy Judge Menary said that the two men knew each other from living in the same general area and Ireland was indirectly related to Billy’s partner. “It may have been that both of you had issues with alcohol and recreational drugs.
“But there was no history of bad feeling between you and in fact only a very short time before the fatal encounter you and he had bumped into each other at a local bus stop where you had chatted and briefly embraced before going your separate ways.”
He said that after the brief meeting, Billy was heading home when he had a very brief encounter with the two girls, who did not recognise each other, and the frightened them by saying or shouting something at them.
He was under the influence of drink and he might have thought he was being funny shouting, ‘oi,oil, oi, what what what.’
“I am perfectly satisfied that Mr Moore did not intend to scare or harm them in any way. It was loud behaviour in drink but this very small and in reality harmless encounter lasting about six second had terrible consequences.”
The girls told Ireland and they went to Billy’s home in Yardley Avenue, Warrington and after they confirmed he had been the man involved Ireland “launched into a ferocious attack.”
Judge Menary said he rejected the notion that Billy had been the aggressor but he accepted the possibility that he came to the door with the knife in his waistband.
“The reality is that you began the fighting and at some point grabbed a knife and used this to repeatedly stab Mr Moore to the face, neck and body causing horrific injuries.”
The victim suffered 12 injuries including ones he suffered trying to defend himself and the fatal one was a stab to his neck severing his carotid artery from which died very quickly in front of his partner.

Stan Reiz, KC, defending, said that the fairest approach to sentence would be on the basis namely that Ireland was at some stage and in some way under attack by Mr Moore.
He felt he had to defend himself, but what he did “was out of proportion and unreasonable.”
He said the jury did not accept the crown’s case that Ireland went to Mr Moore’s address with a knife and he may have gone to the victim’s home unarmed.

After the case, Senior Investigating Officer DI Eli Atkinson said: “Ireland disposed of the knife and his blood-stained clothing, which was never found, and kept a low profile before eventually handing himself in with a concocted story – a story which we were able to disprove as we made our enquiries. He maintained throughout his trial that he had acted in self-defence, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“The level of violence he used in response to a minor incident was entirely disproportionate and resulted in Billy Moore losing his life. Billy’s murder had a huge impact on those close to him and on the local community, particularly happening only a few days before Christmas. I hope that the sentence imposed will bring some closure to Billy’s family, loved ones and friends and I would like to thank all those within the local community who supported the investigation and all of the officers from across Cheshire Constabulary who were involved.”
After Ireland was found guilty of murder, Billy’s family said: “We want to thank each person that has offered kindness, support, and prayers on behalf of our family. That support is deeply felt and appreciated.
“We sincerely appreciate the love and kindness shown to Billy from all those who tried to save him, those who sought justice for him and those who showed bravery and maturity beyond their years in coming forward to tell the truth.
“While today’s verdict will ensure that no other family suffers from the pain and violence James Ireland brought into our lives, we will never get Billy back and we are left with grief and sorrow. Our family will always grieve the loss of Billy.”
Billy’s partner said: “Billy was a kind, caring and fun-loving man, who was always making me laugh. Losing him will affect me for the rest of my life and I will struggle knowing I will never see him again. Billy was my fiancé and we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together, sadly that has now been taken from me. I wish to thank the courts for ensuring justice has prevailed.”

Bewsey dad found guilty of murder of Billy Moore