CCTV of Reece Cox murder shows moment's before innocent father's death
Footage has been released showing the moment a young father was beaten to death outside a pub - as a detective condemned the killers for failing to cooperate with police.
West Midlands Police shared CCTV footage of the attack on 24-year-old Reece Cox after his killers were jailed for a minimum term of nearly 100 years behind them.
The footage from outside The Clifton in Sedgley was shown to jurors during the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court where five men were convicted of murder and one man was convicted of manslaughter.
WATCH the video here:
WARNING: Contains distressing footage
Mr Cox was violently beaten to death after he tried to break up a confrontation after a night out in August last year. A post mortem revealed that Reece died from blunt trauma to his head.
In the video, a flurry of pushes, punches and kicks can be seen before Adam Ashwin delivers a final brutal kick to Mr Cox's head as he tries to get up from the ground.
Ashwin, wearing a cap and shorts, then stands over Mr Cox taunting him as he lies motionless on the floor.Condemning Mr Cox's attackers, Detective Inspector Laura Harrison, who was the senior investigating officer in the case, said: "The group are quite well known by local people in Sedgley. They are people that haven't helped the police with our investigation.
"Each of them have answered no comment in their interviews. A few of them decided to give evidence at court.
"They raised self defence, but the CCTV has been played to the jury for them to make their mind up whether their actions constituted self defence.
"In my mind they didn't, but the process of court trials is to test that evidence and see what a jury think."
Prior to the sentencing, Mr Cox's father Darren described the "humiliation" of having to watch his son's killers laugh and joke while evidence was read out in court.
DI Harrison said CCTV and the help of the Sedgley community was vital in helping to track down Mr Cox's attackers.
She added: "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 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."
Adam Ashwin, Wayne Burke, Shaquel Halliday, Shane Jones, and Sebastian Jones were sentenced to life in prison with minimum terms of between 16-and-a-half and 18 years for the murder of 24-year-old Reece Cox.
Ryan Nicklin, who was found guilty of manslaughter, was jailed for 12 years
