Jail for man found with blood-smeared weapon

A man found armed with a dumbbell smeared with the blood of Black Country murder victim Tom Berry has been jailed for 18 months.

The bar fell to the ground when police stopped Scott Wilkes as he tried to leave the scene with it hidden in his clothing, minutes after the fatal stabbing.

Police threatened to shoot the 26-year-old with a Taser before he would stop struggling after being arrested.

The blood of Mr Berry was found in the screw thread of the bar and on the hand grip.

Scientists who examined it said some of the blood had been splashed onto the weapon, meaning it had been close to the stabbed victim. Wilkes also had the blood of Mr Berry on his jacket, jeans and trainers.

The stabbing took place outside the Town Hall in Lichfield Street, Bilston, where Mr Berry had been at a wedding reception with his family on July 10. He died shortly afterwards in hospital.

Wilkes, from Durberville Road, Parkfields, who had several previous convictions including once being in possession of a Samurai sword, claimed to have picked up the bar from beside the body of the dying victim in a "moment of madness."

But the jury at Stafford Crown Court found him guilty yesterday of having it as an offensive weapon following a four-day trial.

He was acquitted of possession of a knife.

The 26-year-old had claimed to have picked up the dumbbell after seeing it lying by the body of Mr Berry in Lichfield Street.

The jury rejected that explanation but accepted his insistence that he had not threatened Mr Berry's cousin Jason Howell with a knife.

Violence flared after guests from the wedding reception clashed with people who had crowded on the opposite side of a street after a fight outside the Spread Eagle pub.

Ricky Shaw, aged 23, of no fixed address was convicted of the murder and stabbing three other men in the violence in a separate case and is now serving at least 27 years in prison.