'Lurker in the shadows' murderer Jason Hale jailed for life as judge sets minimum term
A drug-fuelled alleyway killer muttered to himself as he was jailed for life for the murder of a much-missed son a few moments ago.
Jurors convicted predatory attacker Jason Hale of murdering 42-year-old Sheldon Jameson in an alleyway attack in September 2024, at the conclusion of a Sheffield Crown Court trial.
In a hearing which has just concluded, Hale, who was referred to during the case as “the lurker in the shadows,” was sent to begin a life sentence for Mr Jameson’s murder.
Fixing the minimum term he must serve behind bars at 25 years, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told Hale: “You are unquestionably labelled a man of violence. You murdered one man with a knife, and grievously injured another man with a knife in almost identical circumstances.”
“Sheldon Jameson was much-loved by his family. He has been badly affected by drugs himself. His family have been badly affected by his murder.”
Dressed in a black Adidas T-shirt, and grey jogging bottoms, Hale could be heard muttering to himself and laughing during today’s proceedings. Responding to the utterances, Judge Richardson warned Hale that should he continue disrupting the hearing, he would be sentenced in his absence.
Hale co-operated with Judge Richardson’s order until the moment his life sentence was passed down, at which point he continued with his inaudible declarations from the dock.
In a moving statement from Mr Jameson’s father, Gordon Jameson revealed that his son comes from a big family, all of whom have been left “devastated” by his shocking death.
“Sheldon was not just my son, he was my best friend,” Gordon Jameson said in his statement.
“I will never recover from hearing the news that Sheldon had been killed. It was so devastating.”
He added that his son’s battles with drug addiction had been laid bare during the trial, but he wanted people to remember that at heart, Sheldon Jameson was a “kind-natured” person and nothing changed that.
Gordon Jameson said Hale caused his family additional suffering by forcing them to endure the ordeal of a trial and derogatory comments he made from the witness box in a bid to “save” himself from a life sentence.
Hale’s murderous actions were uncovered after Mr Jameson was found injured in an alleyway between Apley Road and Whitburn Road in the Hyde Park area of Doncaster on the morning of September 19, 2024.
Paramedics attended but despite their efforts to save Mr Jameson’s life, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination revealed he died from a stab wound to the chest.
The predatory behaviour of Hale, of no fixed abode, became apparent when a second man bravely came forward and told police that two nights prior to Mr Jameson’s murder, a man matching Hale’s description tried to rob him in the same alleyway, and went on to stab him in the abdomen causing a serious injury.
The victim in the earlier stabbing, who gave evidence during the trial, had to undergo surgery for the injury inflicted by Hale.
Hale was also found guilty of attempted robbery and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to the earlier incident, at the conclusion of the same trial.
In the case of both stabbings, Judge Richardson said that following the jury’s verdicts, he found Hale had “deliberately” stabbed both men, and had taken a knife to the scene on both occasions. Hale was also high on drugs when he knifed the two men.
“The backdrop to this appalling criminality is drug taking and drug peddling,” Judge Richardson said.
He added: “It underpins so much criminality in our country, and it unquestionably formed the backdrop to your serious violence.”
“You took the black-handled knife to the scene to use as a weapon,” said Judge Richardson, adding that he concluded Hale has “an easy way with knives.”
In searches of the area, a knife was located and DNA testing connected Hale to a weapon involved in the murder.
Hale, the court heard, left the suspected murder weapon on a wheelie bin outside 52 Chequer Road in the city, and fragments of a second knife he attempted to dispose of were recovered from the toilet bowl of another property on the same street.
Through extensive CCTV trawling and viewing, footage showed Hale, aged 37, loitering around the alley on the night of the murder and the attack two nights prior.
In his interviews with detectives, Hale accepted he was the person on the CCTV on the night of the murder, and he had stabbed Mr Jameson but was acting in self-defence.
Jurors rejected that account when they found Hale guilty of Mr Jameson’s murder, following a two-week trial, during which they heard evidence including witness testimonies, CCTV footage, and forensic examination results.
During this afternoon’s (Thursday, November 20, 2025) sentencing hearing, prosecution counsel Charlotte Baines said it was the Crown’s case that Hale had a “clear propensity” to carry knives.
Ms Baines said that was evidenced both through the circumstances of Mr Jameson’s fatal stabbing, but also in an “almost identical” incident that occurred in the same alley two days before, in which Hale stabbed the second man.
Trial evidence summarised by Ms Baines revealed that two witnesses, including Mr Jameson’s girlfriend, stated they heard Hale threaten to “stab up” Mr Jameson and others in separate incidents prior to the killing.
The court heard how Mr Jameson was a drug user and drug dealer, and his presence in the alleyway where he suffered the fatal stab wound related to the latter.
The other man stabbed by Hale is also believed to have been a drug user.
Judge Richardson sentenced Hale to eight years for the robbery, and nine years for the wounding, to be served concurrently to the minimum term of his life sentence.
Defending, Nicholas Lumley KC argued that Hale does not have a propensity to carry knives, and the similarity in nature between the two stabbings amounted to a “coincidence,” as opposed to a pattern of behaviour.
Mr Lumley conceded, however, that Hale did arm himself with a knife that he used in the first stabbing.
He suggested that in relation to the fatal attack on Mr Jameson, all that can be garnered from the available evidence is that Hale used a knife to carry out the stabbing.
The way in which the weapon was brought to the scene, and by whom, has not been proven, argued Mr Lumley.
Judge Richardson ruled, however, that Hale brought the knife he used to kill Mr Jameson to the scene, in circumstances which were “strikingly” similar to the attack he carried out two days earlier.
Mr Lumley said he accepted the jury’s guilty verdict for murder meant they did not accept Hale had acted in lawful self defence, but added that it was still possible to conclude he had acted defensively, albeit excessively.
Judge Richardson branded the assertion “fanciful.” He added that the trial evidence provided by pathologist Dr Robinson concerning the forceful nature of the injuries Mr Jameson received, causing damage to two rib bones, along with the defensive injuries he suffered, had been “compelling.”
Mr Lumley continued by saying the two knife attacks were “completely out of character” for Hale, which, he suggested, is why Hale does not have any previous convictions relating to knife crime.
The 423 days Hale has spent in custody on remand will be deducted from the 25-year minimum term he must spend behind bars before he can be considered for parole.