Devastated mum and partner of Sheffield murder victim Jordan Marples-Douglas reveal heartache at his death
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Ben Jones, aged 26, formerly of Archdale Road, Manor, Sheffield, was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday after he was found guilty of murdering 23-year-old Jordan Marples-Douglas at the victim’s home on Woodthorpe Road, near Richmond, Sheffield, on March 6, 2020.
He was ordered to serve a minimum of 21 years before he can be considered for parole.
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Hide AdKath Goddard QC, prosecuting, said Jordan was stabbed repeatedly about his head and body in his bedroom after Jones and another man – who is still at large one year later – forced their way into his home.
Jones and the other man are said to have confronted Jordan over a drug debt they were to ‘enforce’.
Jordan's mother told the court: “I find it difficult to express my complete and utter devastation at what has happened.
“When Jordan was killed part of me was killed too. I miss my son so much. He was my rock.”
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Hide AdMs Marples added: “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about him. He was a loving son. No parent should have to say goodbye to their child.”
She added that Jordan’s two younger brothers had been left heartbroken and she said that so many lives have been left ruined.
Jordan’s devastated partner, Danielle Whiting, stated: “What has happened to Jordan has ripped my life apart.”
She described Jordan as her soul-mate and her rock and added that they had been planning to have a baby and to get married.
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Hide AdShe said: “Jordan died in the bedroom of the house we shared for three years next to our bed. Since this happened I have not been able to return to the house.
“He was cruelly and brutally taken away from me. We had our whole life ahead.”
Sheffield United fan Jordan was a devoted stepfather to Danielle’s young daughter.
Prosecutor Ms Goddard said after the killing, the other man involved, who was with Jones on the night of the stabbing, was helped by his girlfriend Dina Aweimrin, aged 22, of Oakdale Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield, to leave the country.
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Hide AdHe flew to Dubai and is now believed to be in Somalia, where he continues to evade arrest.
Aweimrin was found guilty of assisting an offender and jailed for three years.
The university student Aweimrin had researched and booked a flight for her boyfriend from Manchester to Dubai, from where he is believed to have flown to Somalia.
Ms Goddard had originally claimed Jordan died as a result of a drug-debt allegedly owed to Jones’s step-brother Aaron Johnson and that an arrangement had allegedly been made for Jones and Aweimrin’s boyfriend to pursue and enforce the debt.
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Hide AdHowever, Mr Johnson, aged 22, of Mawfa Crescent, Norton, Sheffield, was found not guilty of murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Palmer, Senior Investigating Officer, said: “I would like to offer my condolences to Mr Marples-Douglas’ entire family and loved ones. I know that they are continuing to come to terms with his death, which also shocked the wider community.”