Brothers jailed after killing father in front of his fiance as they walked home after night out

Murdered: Devoted father David Charlton, 25, who was stabbed to death in South Shields, Tyne and Wear just days before Christmas by two brothers

Two brothers have been jailed for stabbing to death a man in front of his fiance as they walked home after a night out.             
Keith Honeyman, 20, was caged for life and told he will spend the next 20 years behind bars for the murder of David Charlton.
His younger brother, Jordan, 16, who was named after an order protecting his identity was lifted, was sentenced to six years detention.
He was just 15 when they attacked Mr Charlton as he and fiance Kirsty Claughan walked home from the Last Orders pub in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, four days before Christmas last year.
The 'gentle' 25-year-old Nissan car worker, devoted father of the couple's young daughter, was stabbed eight times.
Judge John Milford told the teenager, from Halstead Place, South Shields: 'You played an active part in the events which led to the death.' 
He told the older brother who pleaded guilty: 'The knife was used not once or twice, but eight times. The parole board will only release you if it is satisfied it is safe to do so and then it will only do so with stringent conditions.' 

     

Killers: Keith Honeyman and his younger brother Jordan. The attacked victim David Charlton in a back lane

Paul Carr, 31, who tried to dispose of the murder weapon, was jailed for 46months for that offence and an unrelated burglary, which he admitted.
Mr Charlton and his partner had been due to go Christmas shopping to buy gifts for their daughter the following day.                
The Honeyman brothers were lurking in a back lane waiting to rob a drug dealer when the couple  tragically crossed their paths.                   
Prosecutor Jamie Hill QC told Newcastle Crown Court: 'The evidence shows they were waiting to commit a robbery, they were waiting to attack a drug dealer and Keith Honeyman had a knife with him for that purpose.                      
'Keith Honeyman delivered eight stab wounds to Mr Charlton, stab wounds which pierced both his front and his back, stab wounds which did damage to his  liver his heart and one of his lungs.'

Murder scene: The lane where David Charlton was attacked by the Honeyman brothers in South Shields

The teenager admitted manslaughter after jurors failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge he faced, which was later dropped.                                                        
Christopher Knox, defending, told the court: 'He never contemplated the knife would be used in the way that it was.'  
Mr Knox said the youth had been a 'model detainee' while remanded in custody and made positive personal progress.      
David's heartbroken mother Carole Charlton said in a statement: 'How can any mother put into words the emotional hurt of losing a child.  

On guard: A policeman stands by the lane after the killing. David Charlton was stabbed eight times

'Losing David this way has broken my heart. A son who worked so hard and gave so much joy to myself and others, gone forever.
'He was taken so cruelly and for no reason. I miss him terribly and will never come to terms with what has happened.'     
His grieving fiance Kirsty, said in  her statement her 'whole world was shattered'
She added: 'I have been trying to cope with the reality of my daughter asking  for her daddy and telling her he isn't coming back.                        
 'I am trying to keep strong for our daughter's sake.'                                                            
A statement read on behalf of Mr Charlton's family said:  'Today’s sentencing of those responsible for the cowardly killing of our  gentle smiling David marks the end of the legal stage of our campaign for  justice.
'We hope those responsible spend their time behind bars reflecting on the unspeakable damage they have caused this loving family.'                             
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