Killers to be sentenced over death of dad-of-three stabbed in Sheffield turf war

In a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, four men will find out how long they will spend behind bars over the death of 22-year-old Jarvin Blake, who was stabbed to death in March last year.

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The dad-of-three, from Gleadless, was chased after a car pulled up alongside him in Brackley Street, Burngreave, and a number of men jumped out.

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Jarvin was fatally injured and his friend, Declan Maw, was also hurt in the attack but survived.

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Lewis Barker, 27, North Hill Road, Southey Green, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to murder and Caine Gray, 27, of Treetown Crescent, Treeton, Rotherham, was found guilty of the same offence following a four-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Sheffield men Josiah Foster, 26, of Wordsworth Crescent, Parson Cross and Devon Walker, 25, of Ellesmere Road North, Burngreave, were both found guilty of manslaughter.

They were due to be sentenced last Friday but due to the hearing starting late in the afternoon, the judge in the case, Jeremy Richardson QC, adjourned it until tomorrow.

At Friday’s hearing, Prosecutor Simon Kealey QC, outlining the background to the death, said Mr Blake was a low-level drug dealer, who began selling Class A drugs in 2017. He said ‘involvement in Class A drugs brought with it serious trouble,’ adding that Mr Blake’s house was shot at in November 2017.

Mr Blake’s friend, Declan Maw, who is believed to have also been selling Class A drugs at around the same time, was stabbed in his neck, back, flank and thighs three days after the shooting and was found injured in Blackstock Road, Gleadless Valley, with Class A drugs near to him.

Following the incidents, Mr Blake began wearing a bulletproof vest.

It was never proven who delivered the fatal stab wound which killed Mr Blake, but the men to be sentenced over the death were said to have ‘had a plan and worked together’.

In a victim impact statement read out last Friday, Mr Jarvin’s fiancée, Kesley said: “He was my world, he was a joker, his laugh was infectious.

“He cared about the people he loved and would help anyone.

“Family and children were everything to him.”