Six men found guilty of killing dad-of-one in Sedgley

Shane Jones, aged 26, Wayne Burke, aged 23, Shaquel Halliday, aged 22, Adam Ashwin, aged 20 and Sebastian Jones, aged 19, were all convicted of murdering the father of one on August 15 last year. Ryan Nickin, aged 22, was found guilty of manslaughter.

Reece Cox, aged 24, had been on a night out with friends in Sedgley and during the evening ended up in the Clifton Public House.

Reece Cox. Pic - West Midlands Police

Towards the end of the night, they all decided to go off and get food separately before going home.

Two people Reece had met that night set off towards a taxi rank when one of them accidentally bumped into a teen called Joe Williams.

At this, the group attacked one of the men, with Ashwin dragging him into the road and back towards The Clifton.

Reece stepped in to help and Ashwin and his friends violently beat him to death.

A post mortem revealed he died from blunt trauma to his head.

Today (Friday) a jury took just five-and-a half-hours to find all six men guilty of killing Reece.

Shane Jones, Wayne Burke, Shaquel Halliday, Adam Ashwin, Sebastian Jones and Ryan Nickin were also convicted of violent disorder and causing actual bodily harm.

At the start of the trial, two other men Tyrone Halliday, aged 24, and Joe Williams, aged 18, pleaded guilty to affray and causing actual bodily harm retrospectively.

Tyrone Halliday and Joe Williams. Pic - West Midlands Police

Reece’s family described him as a "gentle giant" and "never aggressive" and they said in a statement that he would "step up and front anything that wasn’t right".

They added: "He would always go out of his way to help others.

“Reece’s partner and son have had their whole future as a family taken away from them. On the day he died, it was the couple’s six-year anniversary of when they first met and what would and should have been a happy and special day, but now it will be a sad and permanent reminder of his horrific and senseless killing year after year.

Reece Cox and his son. Pic - West Midlands Police

“Reece and his son had an amazing bond and he is our constant reminder of Reece. It has broken our hearts to see the torment he has had to go through, losing his dad at the age of four.

“Reece was a hero that night and lost his life saving someone else’s. We still cannot believe he has gone and think about him every single day.”

Detective Inspector Laura Harrison, from the West Midlands Police Homicide Team, said: “What is so upsetting about what happened to Reece is that anyone could have been him that night. He was simply on a night out with friends and tried to intervene in a fight that cost him his life.

“Reece was an innocent member of the public who wasn’t out to cause trouble, he simply wanted to enjoy a night out. These six men were out looking for a fight that night and an accidental knock as someone walked past them is all it took to set them off.

“I can’t imagine what Reece’s family are going through in what has been a difficult year for all, let alone a family who had their son, father and partner taken away from them so cruelly.

“Although no sentence will ever bring Reece back, I hope they can gain some closure from this knowing that those that caused Reece’s death have been brought to justice."