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Drug dealer knifed rival through heart
A STREET brawl between two “small-time” drug dealers which ended with the death of one of them has brought his killer a prison sentence “for public protection”.
Judge Richard Hawkins QC praised the family of the victim for their “moving” court statement in which they said they bore no hate for the attacker. But they stressed that they did detest his use of a knife during a squabble over cash and drugs.
Valston Murraine, a shop worker, of Six Acres estate, Finsbury Park, was struck down when Shane Riley produced a blade as the two former pals struggled in the street, watched by 30 by-standers.
The victim’s mother, Valerie, said of the tragedy: “There are no winners.”
Police arrived in Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury, on the evening of September 2, 2006, to find Mr Murraine dying.
He had been knifed four times, three of the injuries were superficial but the fatal one pierced his heart.
A wad of banknotes – £1,000 in all – in his breast pocket failed to stop the blade.
Riley, of President House, King Square, Finsbury, was convicted of manslaughter. He was cleared of murdering Mr Murraine, a fitness fan, after claiming: “It was self-defence.”
Defence QC Stephen Kamlish told the Old Bailey that Mrs Murraine’s “decency” in not seeking revenge should be publicly acknowledged.
Riley had acted because he feared that his rival was armed with a gun, he said.
The judge said Riley posed “a significant risk” of harm to the public.
He will serve a minimum five years before being able to apply for parole. |
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