- 2 days ago
Social Media Monsters - Season 1 Episode 9
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00:00Happy birthday to you!
00:05Yay!
00:08James was just full of life.
00:10He didn't like seeing people in vulnerable situations.
00:14He was a protector.
00:16This goes from really unpleasant antisocial behaviour to another level.
00:24He didn't just stab James once, not twice, four times.
00:30In nine seconds.
00:34There is somebody out there who has committed the most serious of crimes.
00:37If we don't find them soon, could they do it again?
00:40There was a Snapchat story, which is titled,
00:44I've just killed a man and I'll do it again.
00:50When you first embark on a murder investigation and you find out
00:53it's technically a child that's responsible, it's always a surprise.
01:00Happy birthday to you!
01:02Happy birthday to you!
01:04Happy birthday to you!
01:06Happy birthday to you!
01:08Happy birthday to you!
01:10Happy birthday to you!
01:12Yay!
01:14It's the 2nd of May, 2021, and James Gibbons and his fiancée, Victoria,
01:21are enjoying their twin daughter's birthday.
01:24Happy birthday to you!
01:25Happy birthday to you!
01:26Happy birthday to you!
01:27Happy birthday to you!
01:28Happy birthday to you!
01:30It's the 2nd of May, 2021, and James Gibbons and his fiancée, Victoria,
01:34are enjoying their twin daughter's birthday.
01:37we All our clubs a cohort is very excited and happy and super excited and happy.
01:44Celebrate that the twins were turning two.
01:46We had the barbecue.
01:47We had cake and everything.
01:49Everyone was enjoying the day.
01:51We had a lot of fun together that afternoon.
01:54James was just full of life he just enjoyed everything that he done and he
02:06just spending time with him was really fun he had a good sense of humor wicked sense of humor
02:16when James met Vicki we knew that that was something special
02:22they adored each other loved each other and they were just a perfect couple
02:32first child come along on Christmas day just remember James saying I've got a child from
02:41God born on Christmas Day I'm blessed and then along came the second child James had always
02:54wanted twins and had always joked about having 20 went in twin boys he got twin girls it is a big
02:59family we enjoyed having four children we enjoyed family life as a dad he loved it he would be up in
03:07the night feeds and doing everything he loved being a dad in the weeks prior to his twin daughter's
03:25birthday James Victoria and their four children were looking at moving house he dreamed big and
03:33he was very ambitious and he would worked really hard he'd work all day every day if he could he
03:42was a good plumber he was going to be taking over this company I know that he'd spoken to the accountant
03:49she was getting all the accounts ready for him to apply for a mortgage he wanted a good future for
03:55his children and I think he wanted to be proud of himself that he'd achieved this and provided
04:01whilst the couple were hoping to buy a family home in the near future in May 2021 James and his family
04:15they were living on the Five Links estate in Langdon Essex
04:21the estate was known as Alcatraz because it was just synonymous with crime
04:25there's no roads that go through they're all in little squares it's a rat run there was always trouble of some sort
04:35it's it's a housing estate there's kids that hang around on the housing estate it's a series of walkthroughs as opposed to roads it wasn't uncommon for children just to be hanging around on the estate
04:47locals would often post online alerting residents to troubling behavior in the area
04:56could be so lovely you know little squares you can imagine that and to be honest where James and Vicky were all the neighbors got on
05:06we had no issues we would have street parties the kids would all play with each other
05:13I didn't feel unsafe living there it was just that we didn't own the house
05:20I've never known James to say I don't want to live here anymore
05:27the main reason was to be in a nicer area and he didn't want to rent anymore
05:40the night before the girl's birthday there was a homeless man staying under the stairs of the flat
05:45we'd given him some blankets and we'd washed his sleeping bag for him
05:52Vicky said well there's a homeless man there
05:55and James had been helping him out you know giving him cups of coffee or tea in the flask
06:01we went to bed and then the next day we got up he was still there James would always stop and talk to people
06:08he always cared didn't like seeing people in vulnerable situations
06:25we was having a little barbecue in the garden and just some very close family were attending
06:30in 2021 James's mum Wendy was living in Spain and was unable to travel to the UK due to COVID restrictions
06:41ordinarily I would have been there absolutely but because we're still in the last throes of the lockdown
06:47there were no flights and there were no ferries to England so we couldn't get over
06:53but sometime in that morning I did a FaceTime just to see them in their outfits
07:00they were very very happy
07:02whilst James is celebrating his daughter's birthday children from the local area start harassing the homeless man outside James's house
07:24James had taken some food out to the homeless male to give to him and it was at this point where two of the group had started harassing this male and trying to take the food off of him
07:37so James had had a verbal confrontation with these two telling them not to bully this homeless male and then had sent them away
07:45I think it was just two youths initially who'd been picking on him throwing stones
07:55James had said that there was some teenagers but that was he hadn't
08:00he hadn't said that there was any arguments or discussions or anything
08:04so we didn't we didn't know anything else
08:08After this brief confrontation James returned to the barbecue to enjoy the celebrations
08:13Happy Birthday to you
08:18Happy Birthday to you
08:19Happy Birthday to you
08:20My sister's normally the family photographer and she'd record you just singing Happy Birthday
08:24Happy Birthday to you
08:26You got a blow?
08:28Blow it
08:29Blow it
08:30Blow it
08:31Blow it
08:32Blow it
08:33Yay
08:35Yay
08:40As the party continues into the evening
08:42Outside the house, the youths return and launch a violent attack on the homeless man
08:49The police group are youths that were abusing the homeless man, throwing bricks, taking the food, making fun of a vulnerable person
09:07It was evening, the twins I took them up to bed and James said he was going out to have one last cigarette with this man and then what I said to him could you come in then after that
09:25James said he was going to go out to check on the homeless man and when he went out there he was then confronted by a group of eight or nine youths that had come back
09:36James wants to get them away from the homeless man and ends up on his own with this group of yogs
09:43Among those recently drawn into the confrontation is a 16 year old boy who lives nearby
09:50We believe that there was a house on the estate that was unused and he went to that address on the night of the incident and retrieved a knife
09:57And he retrieved a knife
09:58And he retrieved a knife
10:00And he retrieved a knife
10:04Father of four, James Gibbons, has come to the aid of a homeless man outside his house who's being assaulted by a police officer
10:07And he retrieved a knife
10:08And he retrieved a knife
10:09We believe that there was a house on the estate that was unused and he went to that address on the night of the incident and retrieved a knife
10:16Father of four, James Gibbons, has come to the aid of a homeless man outside his house who's being assaulted by a police officer
10:33Who's being assaulted by a gang of youths
10:38That told what character James was
10:47He was helping someone like he so often would
10:50He was a protector
10:55James's protective personality had developed from an early age
11:00James had a younger sibling called Ashley
11:07Ashley was born with epilepsy
11:10He was having up to 20 seizures a day
11:14If Ashley was ever picked upon, James would stick up and protect him
11:21So that's where the protectiveness, I think, stemmed
11:26They were very close, as close as two of us could get really
11:31In 2015, Ashley's seizures were happening nocturnally
11:36And in May of 2015, he just didn't wake up one morning
11:43I called James and I said, Ashley's gone
11:46And I can still hear James
11:49Still hear it
11:52He...he just wowed
11:55I'd now like to take a moment to remember our loved ones who couldn't be with us today
12:02And raise a glass in their memory
12:04James was never quite the same after Ashley died
12:08It hurt him a lot
12:10On the evening of the 2nd of May 2021
12:17James becomes involved in a scuffle with a group of teenagers
12:21Who've been picking on a local homeless man
12:23As things come to a head
12:25James is confronted by a 16 year old
12:27Who's armed with a knife
12:29He made the decision to go off
12:31Recover a knife that he'd had hidden on the estate
12:34And he returned
12:35And at some point during him lashing out
12:40Must have been when the injuries were caused to James
12:44James was subject to four stab wounds
12:46Two in the front of his abdomen
12:48And two to the right side
13:01After being stabbed multiple times
13:03James stumbles the short distance back to his front door
13:07Before collapsing
13:15The children were in bed
13:19The homeless man banged on the door
13:21And said something had happened to James
13:22James was laying on the floor
13:24He passed out
13:25Just to the right of the front door
13:27He was right next to our home
13:28It was quick
13:31Everything was very fast
13:33We made a 999 call
13:35They asked us to start CPR
13:40Then one of the neighbours was there
13:42He's a rugby coach
13:43And he asked if I wanted him to do CPR
13:45Which because obviously he's trained to first aid
13:47So he started CPR
13:49While neighbours battled to save James
14:03The ambulance and Essex police rushed to the scene
14:07The first 999 call came in around half past nine in the evening
14:10You're always ready for that call
14:15Obviously you never want it to happen
14:18Because there's been a tragedy
14:19We have what is called like the golden hour principle
14:23It's a period of time after which a crime has been committed
14:27Where evidence is in its abundance
14:29It's really important to identify any suspects
14:33And any apparent witnesses
14:37By the time I arrived
14:38The information that we were getting was that
14:40James had been involved in an altercation with some youths
14:43And during that altercation he had been stabbed
14:48Police arrived first
14:49And then the ambulance arrived
14:51And then we was asked to go into the house
14:54So we didn't see him being worked on
15:02One of the four wounds that he received
15:05Caused internal bleeding
15:07That would have killed him in minutes
15:13We had the machine stop
15:16Which obviously know that wouldn't stop
15:18Unless they'd stop trying
15:19Or they'd got a heartbeat
15:24He didn't go to hospital
15:25He died at the scene
15:43This is a housing estate where families live
15:46There's children around
15:47And then all of a sudden
15:49There's a murder on your doorstep
15:51It just does not make sense whatsoever
15:55I went into shock
15:56And just
15:59Happy birthday to you
16:03The biggest thing I kept thinking
16:04Was I'm not going to be able to tell the children
16:06And I don't know how to tell Wendy
16:07So because she'd already lost one son
16:17Unable to make the call herself
16:19Victoria gets someone else to break the bad news to James' mum, Wendy
16:25My phone rang
16:27And it was my ex-husband
16:29And I thought that's strange, you know, that time of night
16:38He said,
16:39Wendy, James has been stabbed
16:42He passed away about half an hour ago
16:48I dropped the phone
16:49I couldn't comprehend it
16:50None of it made sense
16:53This is like lightning striking twice
16:57I can't believe any of us have gone through any of this
16:59In my head it didn't
17:01It didn't tally up in my head
17:02That this is what happened
17:03With Ashley
17:16He had the illness
17:18It was Epilepsy
17:19He didn't wake up
17:26And I said that
17:30I can't accept James
17:34And I never will
17:40Essex police were now starting a murder investigation
17:45The primary thought that goes through your mind
17:46Is we need to find out who's done this
17:48There is somebody out there
17:49Who has committed the most serious of crimes
17:52If we don't find them soon
17:53Could they do it again?
18:00But as inquiries commence
18:01One of the teenage boys involved in the attack on James
18:05Starts a Snapchat group conversation with friends
18:10We were able to see those within the group
18:13Starting to talk about what's happened
18:17And they were all asking of his involvement
18:19Of his involvement
18:22A number of the youths were part of a Snapchat group
18:25Where they would exchange messages
18:30The Snapchat group even attempts to offer advice to the offender
18:33There was lots of discussion about what had happened
18:38The fact that there had been a stabbing
18:39The police were all around
18:41Meanwhile, the police's first steps involved gathering local witness statements
18:55Neighbours were talking to officers at the scene
18:56And identifying children that had been there when the murder took place
19:05There was general disbelief from the local residents that that could happen on the estate
19:11Many housing estates have children running around causing low-level antisocial behaviour
19:14But I don't think anybody expects for someone to be stabbed and die on their doorstep
19:21A number of uniformed officers were given a name of a young boy
19:26So from there we were able to then move on to do some intelligence checks
19:30And try and establish who that young lad was
19:32And as a result, uniformed officers go to his address
19:37And he was arrested in the middle of the night
19:43The arrest of this teenage boy led to further arrests of members of the group that initially assaulted James
19:50From the neighbours at the scene, we were aware that the group was made up of a number of males and females
19:56Two girls were able to identify their attendance at the scene, they were also arrested
20:03With three teenagers in custody, police soon identify a prime suspect
20:09A disclosure's made that Joshua Sparks was at the scene
20:14As a result, officers go to Joshua's address and he is arrested
20:21The police were brilliant, they kept us updated and they came to us quite a lot
20:29They were really supportive
20:31To be told there's a murder and then to have four juveniles all in custody
20:37Within less than eight hours, it's a very fortunate situation to be in for us
20:43As Essex police continue their interviews, social media activity around the case intensifies
20:55It blew up quick
20:58My phone was just going off
21:00There were a lot of people messaging on Facebook to us, telling us all sorts of things
21:04We didn't know what was true and what wasn't
21:07So many people are talking, oh you know about the guy that got killed, it was so and so that did it
21:14You couldn't manage it, so I just shut it down, just shut down social media
21:19It's detrimental, you don't need, well it may be this or we were told this
21:25Until we got hard evidence, I just didn't want to be told anything really
21:29Back at Basildon Police Station, detectives seek to identify which of the youths they have in custody was responsible for murdering James
21:43It was key that we had to interview these youths as soon as possible
21:49We were aware that there was a weapon outstanding, we would want to try and recover that weapon
21:53The first interview would have been a free-flowing, what happened, why were you there, mostly open questions
22:00In his first interview, Joshua gave a very vague account of he'd been on the estate hanging out with friends
22:08But wouldn't say who those friends were, whereabouts exactly he was
22:13And he maintained that he returned home shortly after it got dark
22:16He was nonchalant in an interview, he didn't come across as animated or overly bothered
22:26And answered no comment to questions that were uncomfortable or challenging
22:34He doesn't seem scared at all, seemed to take it all in his stride, which for a 16-year-old is, I think, quite unusual
22:43But whilst Joshua Sparks attempts to appear laid back, the other members of the group are providing police with significant statements that implicate him in James' murder
22:56We had the other three juveniles in custody who had said they weren't necessarily involved in the stabbing
23:01We had two interview pairs, so whilst one pair would interview Joshua, another pair would interview the children that were probably more likely to talk to us
23:11The other teenagers that were interviewed were fairly forthcoming with the incident and what happened
23:20And it became clear reasonably quickly who was responsible
23:28They were significant witnesses because they'd been there and they were living and breathing the incident
23:33And I'm sure a good chunk of them would have sinned, actually physically sinned it
23:39We wanted to bring them on side and get their trust and try and get them to give us a witness account
23:46The juveniles told us that Josh was there and Josh was involved in the stabbing
24:00Joshua Sparks is now the prime suspect in the murder of James Gibbons
24:04The next day we set up the ID parade that was carried out by the homeless male who had picked Joshua out as being one of the males at the scene
24:16Which would ultimately strengthen our case against Joshua
24:20Despite the eyewitness accounts, Joshua continues to deny attacking James
24:25Prompting police to turn to digital forensics for further evidence
24:30At the time of the search of Joshua's house, we were able to recover his mobile phone
24:37And that was subject of a full download
24:42We saw that at 12.50, Joshua makes a call to his girlfriend
24:45That's some in excess of 40 minutes long
24:49And we were able to get an understanding from talking to girlfriend
24:52That he was upset
24:54We know that he'd said someone had been stabbed
24:57And that he was, i.e. was involved
25:02There was another phone call he made
25:04Which was overheard by another one of our youth witnesses
25:07At which point he laughed as he said he'd chinged someone 25 times
25:11Ching'd been a reference to stabbing somebody
25:17Shortly after the stabbing took place
25:19Josh googled, can I go to prison for accidentally killing somebody
25:23He googled murder in Basildon
25:26It already shows that he had a guilty knowledge that he was directly involved
25:33When examining Joshua's social media activity immediately following the murder
25:37Investigators uncover yet more significant evidence
25:42One of the biggest breakthroughs in the case certainly came from the mobile phone side of things
25:48There was a Snapchat story that Joshua creates
25:53Which is titled, I've just killed a man and I'll do it again
25:5716 year old Joshua Sparks denies any role in the murder of James Gibbons
26:15However, police have uncovered significant social media posts made by Sparks in the hours after the fatal attack
26:21After the incident Josh created a Snapchat story saying that I've just killed someone and I'll do it again
26:30And then we see the subsequent chat underneath where Joshua admits to M-ing, the letter M, a man
26:42Which we now know to M-ing, to mean murder
26:48And within the chat Josh says I, it comes across as ducked up
26:53But we know that should be the phrase beginning with F
27:00It's unbelievable
27:03Unbelievable
27:05What mentality have they got?
27:08It's, it's, there's just no words
27:13And then we see the subsequent chat
27:16Of all those within the group
27:18That think it's not true
27:21They're all asking Joshua of his involvement which he confirms
27:27We're also able to see that Josh says I'm a psychopath
27:32He's described himself as a psychopath
27:34He saw this as an opportunity to integrate this element into his social identity
27:41Of someone to be feared, to be respected, that could assert dominance
27:45Rather than the awareness of the gravity of what he had done
27:48And the seriousness of his situation
27:49One of his friends told him that his life was over
28:04To which his reply was I know I might as well go and kill everybody else I don't like
28:08And we had what we believe is tantamount to confessions by Josh from, from mobile phone evidence
28:20For us as, as the family, it's hurtful but they can't hurt us anymore because they've taken James away from us
28:26As the investigation gains momentum, police search Joshua's home for physical evidence to support claims made in his social media messages
28:43The plan around it was to lock down his house so it could then be searched forensically hoping that we would recover the knife
28:53From the search of Josh's address we were able to recover some clothing which we believed he was wearing at the time but we never recovered the knife
29:02I remember Gav saying we haven't got the knife, which was really disappointing
29:09We'd interviewed him many times about what happened, he refused to tell us
29:13We made other enquiries after that with families to where the knife may have gone and we were never able to establish where it went
29:22Despite eyewitness testimony and Joshua Sparks incriminating social media posts
29:29The absence of a murder weapon means police must continue to gather evidence in order to charge him
29:36Time is off the essence, so I'm already starting to think what can I use to help me solve this and get justice for James' family
29:46And it was very clear what was going to solve this investigation was CCTV
29:50It was deemed necessary to do some quick time house to house enquiries, check the CCTV and doorbell footage
30:00The local residents I think were as equally appalled
30:03We were to find what had happened and they were very amenable for us to come into their houses and actually start downloading their CCTV so it could be used to progress the investigation
30:12We were able very quickly to start to understand what happened
30:20The initial altercation of the juveniles where James tells them to go away
30:27Joshua was in that group
30:29As James approaches, an arm comes out, grabs hold of him and then they both move further into the alleyway
30:41The argument that happens, which unfortunately isn't covered with CCTV
30:46Within nine seconds, we were able to show Josh running back out of the alleyway through the estate
30:53It was evident that only one person could have stabbed James and all the evidence was pointing towards Joshua
31:03We put to him the CCTV
31:07All of those subsequent interviews, Josh refused to answer any questions
31:14Which I think was telling for the fact that he knew the evidence was stacking up against him
31:17And he knew it was best to say nothing rather than get caught out in a lie
31:24The other youth, they obviously named him
31:27We had the CCTV at the scene
31:29And we also had the positive ID parade of the homeless man who identified Joshua Sparks as being at the scene
31:39I was really confident that we had the right person
31:43And we were not looking for anyone else
31:46Hence he was charged with the murder of James Gibbons
31:50I was there when he was charged with murder and no reaction
32:00Joshua treated his charge like he treated his interviews
32:05He was very relaxed and just took it all in his stride
32:14We knew now that the police said that they have someone in custody
32:18And it was a 16-year-old that killed my son
32:24It's beyond belief
32:26What is happening in this world?
32:30When you embark on a murder investigation then you find out it's technically a child that's responsible
32:35It's always a surprise but unfortunately it's not a rarity anymore
32:39It is becoming more and more prevalent
32:41Joshua was remanded into youth custody
32:45The challenge for us is the short court timelines that are given for a juvenile held in detention
32:52So we were significantly tight on time to collect all of our evidence
32:57The pressure was on us to get trial ready
33:02We were holding on to that like for life because we wanted justice done
33:10Five months after James' death the trial of Joshua Sparks began at Chelmsford Crown Court
33:17Joshua pleads not guilty to murder on the grounds of self-defence
33:27When people are charged with murder very rarely will they ever admit it
33:31Their only chance is to go down the lines of self-defence to try and suggest that they were provoked into their actions and they had to do it for their own self-preservation
33:41Joshua's legal team based their defence on claims that James was carrying a weapon when he confronted the youths
33:46They focused heavily on James being armed at the time and that's why Joshua had to go and find a knife
33:56They were saying that James had a weapon and that he was using it
34:01It was just you know, oh we think it was a hammer, we think it was a wooden pole
34:08Before the stabbing took place a neighbour did give the homeless male a piece of wood akin to a broom handle
34:16So he could protect himself because he was being harassed by these youths
34:19And then the defence he's claiming James in possession of that stick
34:23And when he went out there he confronted the youths
34:26It's kind of like we were the ones on trial because we had to prove our points
34:33It's hard when you've lost your son but it's like he's being made the one that's the guilty one
34:41It's very hard
34:43Defendants don't always take the stand, however if his defence was going to stand as self-defence he would have to
34:55Joshua came across as very meek and very quietly spoken and he said he protected the children
35:02So the image that he portrayed in the box was very different to the cocky Joshua that was at the scene
35:08And how he spoke on the snapchat after the incident
35:16Joshua said he was worried about the threat James posed to his friends
35:21So he made the decision to go off, recover a knife that he'd had hidden on the estate
35:26And he returned only with the intention of using it to intimidate James
35:31We obviously heard the defence side
35:34Rationally you know that they've got to do a job
35:38But then emotionally
35:41You're very protective over the person that you've lost
35:45Especially because they haven't done anything
35:52The defence team obviously are there to get the perpetrator off
35:57So they're going to put everything in to get the 16-year-old youth off
36:02To try and convict somebody there has to be no reasonable doubt
36:07That was what was worrying because all you needed was one little bit of doubt
36:18It's October 2021 and Joshua Sparks is standing trial for the murder of James Gibbons
36:24He went not guilty
36:29Joshua's defence team focused heavily on the fact that James was armed at the time
36:35And that's why Joshua had to go and find a knife
36:39The defence team, when they were doing their case
36:43There were times we'd think, we're not going to get him
36:46But he's not going to go down for this
36:48With a murder verdict at stake, the prosecution hits back at claims James was armed with a wooden stick in the lead up to the attack
36:57What the CCTV was able to show was that at no point was James in possession of that stick
37:03And at the time where James was grabbed by Joshua in the alleyway, he was completely unarmed
37:11All James was doing was raising his hands like this to say go away, leave him alone
37:18Because James knew they were children
37:20The nature of James's injuries also raised doubts as to whether the attack could be justified as self-defence
37:31The defence case statement that we got from Joshua's legal team was that he was attacked by James
37:38So he had to lash out
37:40From James's autopsy, it was noticed that he had four penetrative stab wounds
37:45Two were at the front to the chest and abdomen
37:47And there were two to his right flank
37:50Joshua had no injuries at all
37:53Which I think was very telling
37:55He was attacked and so had to defend himself
37:57Yet he had no defensive injuries
37:59And James had four penetrative stab wounds
38:02He didn't just stab James once
38:05Not twice
38:07Four times
38:09In nine seconds
38:12That says it all
38:17After a month in court, the jury and the Joshua Sparks murder trial began their deliberations
38:26I know we got the right person
38:29However, we are relying on 12 members of the jury
38:34To be sure that beyond all reasonable doubt, Joshua Sparks intended to kill James Gibbons
38:42You were always slightly worried that you might get an adverse jury verdict
38:48You go to court and you've got two professional sides to his character
38:53Trying to put doubt in the jury's mind
38:56Of course we were worried
38:57The main reason for the conviction for me was because when telling my children something bad had happened to their dad
39:05You want to follow it up with
39:07But it's okay because this happened
39:10Not that the person got away with it
39:12Despite several days of deliberation, the jury still couldn't agree on a unanimous verdict
39:23The longer you sit in the police room and wait for a decision, you're trying to live the mind of the jury
39:28And what could they possibly be discussing?
39:31When the jury retire, the judge always tells them he expects a unanimous guilty or not guilty
39:36For the case of Josh, the judge, give them the majority verdict ruling
39:41So as long as ten of you agree, then that will be the verdict of all of you
39:45On the 3rd of November 2021, the jury finally reached their decision
39:55There's not a feeling I've ever felt like it
40:01You could hear every sound
40:04You know, it was quiet
40:07The judge called the jury back into court and it was returned as a guilty for murder on a ten to two majority
40:18I see Gavin Wiseman next to me
40:22Go
40:27I looked across at the mum
40:30And she broke down
40:32All that tension, the whole weight had just gone
40:38Just, we can breathe
40:42We've done well for James and we've got justice
40:48The verdict brought relief to James' family
40:51But was met with anger and menace by those supporting Joshua Sparks
40:54There was an uproar with the youths directing signs to us
41:03Some of them was very visual
41:07They were intimidating
41:09To be honest with you, the perpetrator was as well
41:12I believe after Josh was told he'd been found guilty and was sent down
41:16He made a gesture towards his family
41:18Which caused some annoyance to James' family, understandably
41:24A month later, on the 3rd of December
41:2916-year-old Joshua Sparks returned to court to be sentenced
41:33For adults, knife-related murders can attract up to 25-year minimum sentence
41:39That was never going to happen for Josh because of his age
41:41Joshua Sparks was sentenced to 13 years
41:45He was a juvenile
41:49And there are restrictions that are in place and they're set, you know, by legislation
41:55And that's really tough for the family
41:58It was a relief to have that verdict come through
42:02But the sentencing is not long enough
42:06The judge has to consider aggravating and mitigating factors that can move the sentence around
42:13And bringing the knife to the scene did increase the sentencing
42:24I'm really proud of the work my investigation team has carried out in this case
42:28From the moment the first call came into our control room
42:32Every single member of the team worked with a single-minded focus
42:36Catching the person responsible
42:37However, my thoughts today are entirely with James' family and friends
42:42Who have conducted themselves with incredible dignity throughout this whole investigation
42:47Nothing will bring back James to his family and friends
42:50But I hope that today brings them some comfort
42:53And that justice has been served
42:56And his killer is facing a custodial sentence for his crime
42:59The main concern I have with the sentencing was that when he's released, my children will still be quite young
43:12I'd rather they were adults when I told them
43:15I don't want them to be scared
43:17But no, when they're still quite young, we'll have to have the conversation
43:20The person that took their dad is free
43:22Although Joshua was a juvenile, the judge took the exceptional step of permitting his name to be made public
43:31I think it's right that the judge did lift the anonymity order
43:37It's such a serious crime
43:38It's important for me to say what James was like
43:56The loving son, father
44:00And if he saw anyone vulnerable, he was the person that would be there to help them
44:11That's the type of man he is, he was
44:21Look at that cheeky smile
44:23I see him in the children a lot
44:26We have pictures everywhere
44:27Nobody's looking at James, they're so sweet
44:31I often think about how would he be with them now at this age
44:35It just makes me sad for the life that we didn't get to have
44:48Happy birthday to you
44:51Happy birthday to you
44:53I think social media had a role in playing in terms of offering Joshua Sparks a platform or a way to share what he's done
45:06To boost his status in his eyes and to be responded to by others
45:15He shouldn't be carrying a knife in the first place
45:16It's just so disappointing and soul destroying that innocent members of the public are losing their lives as a result of these mindless people who are using these weapons in this way
45:36There's something wrong in the way that the youths are growing up today
45:42Maybe they'll be influenced by social media
45:45But something needs to be done
45:47If we can use James's memory for any reason it would be to help save a life
45:52To help save a life
46:22From there
46:24Life
46:25No
46:28No
46:30No
46:31No
46:32No
46:33No
46:35No
46:37No
46:38No
46:39No
46:41No
46:42No
46:43No
46:44No
46:45No
46:47No
46:49No
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