Mirfield murder latest: Pair given life sentences for killing Josh Hirst
Joshua Hirst. Man murdered in Mirfield. Josh Hirst.
Two men have been given life sentences for the murder of 20-year-old Josh Hirst.
Joe Church and Aaron Smith were found guilty last Friday of attacking Mr Hirst outside his Mirfield home last summer.
Today (Thursday) they were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in front of a public gallery packed with Mr Hirst’s loved ones.
Church, 21, of Redlands Close, Mirfield, will serve at least 25 years in prison, and Smith, 19, of Saville Street, Emley, will serve at least 22 years, minus 198 days the pair have served on remand.
The Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC told them: “You have both contested this trial and you Church have tried to lie your way out of what you did.”
Church’s then girlfriend, Kirstie Rainford, 22, of Springbank Drive, Liversedge, was also jailed this afternoon.
She pleaded guilty to three counts of assisting an offender at an earlier hearing.
A third man, Nadeem Rashid, 21, of Lapwing View, Horbury, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter after the four week trial.
For the full story, see this week’s paper.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Batley
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
