How night out for friends ended in Craig Yorke's murder

Jack Lawson was jailed for life on Tuesday (October 7) for murdering 28-year-old Craig Yorke.

Lawson stabbed Craig Yorke three times when two groups of friends clashed in the early hours of the morning following several hours of ‘cat and mouse’ activity.

He was found guilty after a trial in July, while his four co-accused - Marley Roles, Connor Vint, Harry Brown, and a youth who cannot be named for legal reasons, were cleared of both murder and manslaughter.

Lawson was driving around with his girlfriend and her best friend when a chance encounter with his intended foe, Jack Richardson, lit the touch paper for trouble that ended with Craig Yorke being fatally stabbed.

The 18-year-old reached over the rear of his car to grab an African walking stick as Mr Richardson walked towards his car but a teenage girl stopped him getting hold of the potential weapon.

Jurors heard how there had been simmering tension between the pair following an alleged robbery on Lawson and his friend Marley Roles by Mr Richardson and some other men in August 2022.

Within a couple of hours, Lawson took possession of a sheath knife passed to him by one of his co-accused, Roles. The jury at Teesside Crown Court heard that was not the knife used to kill the 28-year-old.

Lawson and Mr Richardson then engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse as the latter tormented the murderer with claims he was prepared for a one-on-one fist fight.

Throughout the evening the fight never materialised much to the frustration of Lawson who chased his foe through the streets of Shildon while filming himself screaming a torrent of abuse.

After that, jurors heard the two disputing teenagers started to round-up supporters before the two groups eventually clashed in Eldon Lane, near Bishop Auckland, in the early hours of December 14 last year.

Lawson had rounded-up up Connor Vint, Marley Roles, Harry Brown and a teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Richardson had recruited Craig Yorke and Jordan Hodgson to support him during the proposed fair fight.

However, the jury heard how the supposed fair fight never happened as Mr Richardson and his crew turned up armed with African walking sticks and immediately launched an attack on the car containing Vint and the unnamed teenager.

The sound of what happened in those fatal few minutes was caught on CCTV but the violent clash was not caught on camera.

The jury heard how the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, containing all five of the defendants, were parked on Millbank Terrace, Eldon Lane. Moments later in footage the red Ford Focus drove up a lane with its lights off and an altercation occurred off-screen. The car was being driven by Mr Yorke with Jack Richardson and Jordan Hodgson inside.

Car tyres could be heard screeching with engines revving while someone could be heard shouting 'give him it, give him it'.

The unnamed teenager then recorded footage of the red Ford Focus being reversed into by the Astra before the car is attacked by him and Harry Brown.

The clip showed a stick being used to damage the car with broken glass from the windows strewn across the car seats while someone could be heard shouting 'rats - they won't come back again boys'.

Shortly after, Lawson recorded himself holding a bloodied knife and an African walking stick with the damaged red Focus in the background.

The court was shown one clip where Lawson was driving away from the scene with a knife laid across his lap.

Opening the case, Peter Moulson KC, prosecuting, said: “The Crown’s position is that Lawson was responsible for delivering the stab wounds to Mr Yorke. The other four defendants encouraged and assisted him.

“Lawson, we contend, is the ringleader of the group, but each defendant is involved, encouraging or assisting with the attack in various ways before he is killed.

“We contend that Mr Richardson was the intended target.”

Throughout his evidence, Lawson denied that he ever intended to cause serious injury to Mr Yorke and only confronted him after he had started attacking the Astra containing two of his friends.

But 10 members of the jury who agreed he was guilty of murder saw through his denials.

Exactly what happened may never be known as it was pitch black at the scene and only one person lived to tell the tale after Mr Yorke collapsed and died after suffering three stab wounds.

During his evidence, he said: "I didn’t realise that he was stabbed in the chest. I was just full of adrenaline, trying to scare them off."

The teenager took a video of himself driving away from the scene with the bloodied knife on his lap. The weapon has never been recovered by police.

The prosecution team did not call Mr Richardson or Mr Hodgson to give evidence during the seven-week trial.  The jury had heard how Mr Hodgson appeared to be carrying a knife when he was captured on CCTV shortly after the clash.

A balaclava with Mr Yorke’s DNA on was recovered from the scene.

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Lawson’s four co-accused were charged with murder and manslaughter and all gave evidence in their defence except for Vint, who took the decision to not enter the witness box.

Lawson was found guilty of murder after a jury reached a majority verdict of 10 to 2 following 19 hours and 13 minutes deliberating, but the four others were cleared of murder and manslaughter.

Mr Yorke’s family may never learn exactly what happened to their beloved son and father but they will now have received some justice for their devastating loss.

As for the five young defendants, their lives will always be lived in the shadow of the tragic death of the 28-year-old dad-of-two.