'Those two men have no idea what they've done to my family': Loved ones of murdered Northampton man share heartache in court

The family of 34-year-old Daniel Fitzjohn could only hold each other and cry as they saw drug dealer Daniel Quinn jailed for a minimum of 27 years at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (February 21).

The 28-year-old from Wolverhampton was convicted this week of 'hunting' Mr Fitzjohn down through the streets of Kinglsley and fatally stabbing him twice in the abdomen in June 2018.

Sadly, Mr Fitzjohn died half-an-hour-later in hospital.

Quinn was jailed along with his co-defendant Parminder Sanghera, 25, from Wolverhampton, who drove Quinn away from Kingsley on the day of the murder and was convicted of manslaughter.

In court, His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo read out statements from Mr Fitzjohn's family of the 'devastation' caused by his death.

Mr Fitzjohn's father said: "People tell me they are sorry and they know how we feel. But no one can know how we feel unless they also lost such a treasured loved one in such a brutal way.

"Those two men have no idea what they've done to my family. It has been unbearable. They have ripped a hole through everything I knew and changed it forever. They've taken away a son from me and taken away a father from his five-year-old son who loved him dearly. We will never recover from this.

"A cardboard castle Daniel built with his son has become a treasured family memory."

Mr Fitzjohn was targeted by Quinn after he punched the drug dealer to the floor while defending a friend outside Fairfield News shop in Kingsley.

This, the court heard, was 'hugely embarrassing' for the drug dealer, who immediately left to collect Sanghera, a machete and a knife from a nearby house before coming after Mr Fitzjohn and his friends for revenge.

As the judge put it: "You intended to kill and you did so. Your actions after that displayed a total lack of remorse.”

In a statement read out the prosecutor Mary Loram QC, Mr Fitzjohn's mother said: "He was such a good person. He worked so hard. Anyone who knew him loved him so much. This was evidenced by the 400 people who came to his funeral. I just can’t come to terms with the way in which he died."?

Now, Quinn has begun his jail sentence and will not be released for at least 27 years.

Speaking yesterday, senior Investigating officer, detective chief inspector Ally White, said: “I welcome the sentences handed out to Quinn and Sanghera today and I hope their time behind bars will give them the opportunity to reflect on the devastation they have caused.

“Mr Fitzjohn has been universally described by those that knew him as a decent, mild-mannered man and I am pleased that we have managed to get justice for him and his family.”