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DOUBLE MURDER: Dramatic collapse at court as victims' families weep
THE heartbroken brother of a man butchered to death with his new lover collapsed with grief outside court after their killer was found guilty of the frenzied knife attack.
Mark Gardiner broke down and sobbed after jealous David Mirfin, aged 51, was convicted of murdering Jane Wheatley, 34, and his brother Gary Gardiner, 46, at Ms Wheatley's Nether Edge home on Bonfire Night last year.
Mark cried as he described Gary as a "gentle cuddly giant", and said he was a much-loved father to two daughters.
"My brother is remembered in our hearts so very strongly, more for the happiness he spread to others in his life rather than for his violent death," he said.
Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court took three and a half hours to unanimously find Mirfin, of Atlantic Drive, Low Edges, guilty. He is facing a term of life in prison when he is sentenced later today.
As the verdicts were delivered to a packed court room Mirfin sighed, closed his eyes, and whimpered: "It's not true."
In the public gallery the families of his victims wept and clutched each other with relief.
"Spare a thought" for their little boyPolice shocked by attack
The court heard Mirfin - the father of Jane Wheatley's son Daniel, three - subjected the couple to "a prolonged and utterly brutal" attack at her home in Wath Road.
He became jealous and possessive following the breakdown of their relationship, and thwarted her attempts at finding love via the internet by threatening potential suitors.
At 10.30pm last Bonfire Night Mirfin stabbed former lorry driver Gary to death in the kitchen before turning the knife on Jane. Both put up a "spirited fight", the court heard.
Jane sustained 46 injuries while Gary suffered 59. The major arteries in her neck were severed and some of the blows to Gary were delivered with such force they cut through his ribs.
During the attack Jane made a desperate 999 call in which screaming could be heard.As police arrived Mirfin fled through an attic window, across the roofs of neighbouring homes, and down a drainpipe.
He was arrested four hours later when he returned to his camper van on nearby Emily Road, where his toddler son Daniel had earlier been discovered by police.He had changed his blood-stained clothes and disposed of his shoes.
Mirfin maintained throughout his trial that he arrived at the property to return Daniel from a visit, and was confronted by two masked intruders. He claimed he panicked, fled through the attic window, then passed out.
In truth Mirfin killed the couple, then placed a ring given to Jane by her sisters on her chest, along with the blade of the broken knife. His blood was found at the scene, on Jane's body, and on two of the knives used in the killings.
Mark Gardiner described his brother as a "happy go lucky chappy", adding: "He was open, kind, generous and a gentle cuddly giant." He said his elderly parents had been too ill to attend the trial but Gary's death had "torn them apart".
Mr Gardiner said Mirfin's refusal to admit his crimes had forced them to hear graphic details of the attacks.
DCI David Powell, from South Yorkshire Police's major incident team, said: "Without a doubt it is one of the most sickening and horrific scenes I have attended."
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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