Sheffield Crown Court: Two men found guilty of Halloween murder

Jacob Carroll, 27, and Jordan Davies, 26, were both found guilty of murder

Sheffield Crown Court has heard how 27-year-old Jacob Carroll had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 18-year-old Joe Takyi-Sarpong but he and 26-year-old Jordan Davies had both denied murdering Joe on October 31, last year, near to the derelict former Doncaster County Court building.

However, a trial jury on July 29 unanimously found Carroll guilty of murder and found Davies guilty of murder by a majority of 11 to one.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told the defendants: “You have both been convicted of murder. The sentence will be one of life imprisonment. The only issue to determine here is how long the minimum term will be.”

Pictured is Jacob Carroll, aged 27, of no fixed abode, who has been found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of murdering stabbing victim Joevester Takyi-Sarpong near Doncaster city centre.

Prosecuting barrister Mark McCone previously told the jury Joe had been with friend Warren Flanagan when a group started shouting and as Joe and Warren ran they were pursued by the defendants on bicycles.

Mr McCone added Joe’s body was later found with a stab wound to each leg on November 1, 2021, near the old Doncaster County Court, after he was spotted by motorists nearly 12 hours after the murder.

He said Joe had climbed over locked gates at Catherine Street and the defendants had gained access via Trafford Way where they were out of view from CCTV cameras.

CCTV showed the defendants chasing Joe to the area where his body was found, according to Mr McCone, but the murder was not captured on any footage.

Pictured is Jordan Davies, aged 26, of no fixed abode, who has been found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of murdering stabbing victim Joevester Takyi-Sarpong near Doncaster city centre.

However, Mr McCone said the defendants pursued Joe and it did not matter whether it was one or both of them that allegedly stabbed him because they had been acting in a joint enterprise.

Carroll had admitted to being a drug addict who had been selling drugs to feed his crack cocaine habit and he claimed he had been trying to protect his “patch”.

He claimed he had jumped over the fence and saw a knife on the ground and he had warned Joe while prodding towards him with his flick-knife only to intimidate him.

Carroll also said Davies, who declined to give evidence, sold drugs separately but they were not in business together.

Pictured is Doncaster teenager Joevester Takyi-Sarpong, who died aged 18, after he suffered two stab wounds to his legs near Doncaster city centre.

Mr McCone said both defendants and Joe had been involved in the “drugs world” and the deceased had been found with cannabis in his system.

He added the defendants’ DNA was also found on bottles and cans in the vicinity and Carroll’s phone had been used in the area, according to a nearby mast.

The court heard Joe died from blood loss and haemorrhaging from the stab wounds but mainly from the right leg.

Davies and Carroll, who have previous convictions and are of no fixed abode, are due to be sentenced on August 3.

Judge Richardson remanded the defendants and told them he has to consider the minimum custodial terms they will have to serve before they can be released.

He added: "That will be decided on Wednesday when I pass sentence. In the meantime, you may go to the cells.”