Shane Mayer: How young man was left to die after being stabbed with sword
It was a brutal attack on a young man who was fatally stabbed with a sword and left to die on a residential street.
The attack on Shane Mayer, 21, outside Gabba's Bar in Darlaston was sparked by two confrontations at the scene earlier that evening.
He was set upon by four hooded young men, with Ramani Sanderson, 20, stabbing him repeatedly with a blade measuring between 11 to 15 inches on July 24, 2019.
One of the blows severed his femoral artery in his groin, causing severe blood loss and his death in hospital three days later.
One of the earlier confrontations happened involved Mr Mayer's friend and Sanderson's 21-year-old co-defendant Lewis Green at the bar in the old Herbert's Park Tavern in Forge Road.
Green had summoned the troops, prosecutors said, and returned to the scene with Sanderson and Joseph Till, 21, and Kamron Reid, 20, before approaching Mr Mayer's group at 11.13pm.
The violence lasted less than one minute.
Fatally wounded, Mr Mayer ran away with his friend as the defendants chased after him.
He collapsed nearby in Wolverhampton Street, bleeding heavily, where he was found by a member of the public. The defendants, meanwhile, fled the scene.
The male passer-by called for an ambulance and fetched a blanket to stem the bleeding.
On the way to Queens Elizabeth Hospital in an ambulance, Mr Mayer went into cardiac arrest and never regained consciousness.
The attack caused him a serious brain injury, as a result of the bleeding, and he needed part of his leg amputating.
Three days later, on July 27, the painstaking decision was made to turn off his life support machine.
A post-mortem confirmed he died as a result of the wound to his left groin.
Although Sanderson carried out the actual stabbing, the other three defendants were jointly accused of murder, with their involvement alleged to have been joint enterprise.
Michael Burrows QC, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, claimed all four defendants "shared the intention to kill or seriously injure" Mr Mayer.
But only Sanderson was convicted of murder, with Till and Reid found guilty of manslaughter. Green was cleared of having any involvement in the killing.
Alongside the stab wound to his groin, Mr Mayer also suffered defensive type injuries on his hands, sustained as he tried to block the blows from the sword which Sanderson wielded.
The first of the two incidents outside Gabba's Bar which preceded the stabbing happened just before 11pm.
It prompted Green to go running to Gabba's Bar, armed with a hammer. He admitted a charge of possessing an offensive weapon for which he was sentenced to three months in custody - time he had already served on remand.
Shortly after, at 11.09pm, Green called Reid, who was at or near his home.
Then, 30 seconds after that, CCTV footage captured the four defendants running towards the scene of the fatal third incident.
Further CCTV captured Sanderson lunging at Mr Mayer, with the victim then seen on film in a crouched position.
All four defendants were also charged with possessing a bladed article in a public place.
Halfway through the trial, Sanderson pleaded guilty to this offence but still denied murder.
Jurors heard how Sanderson had bought the weapon for just £20 via Snapchat hours before he stabbed Mr Mayer.
After the stabbing, Sanderson tried to cover his tracks.
He discarded the blade in a grassy area near the Black Country New Road; and, upon arriving home, he went straight to his room and put his clothing - including a bloodstained jumper - in the washing machine.
He claimed he did not find out that Mr Mayer had died until a "couple of days later".
It wasn't the first time that Sanderson wielded a blade against another person.
Less than three months earlier, he struck a taxi driver over the head with a knife following an altercation outside the Bradford Arms pub, in Walsall, on April 29, 2019. He also faced charges in the trial for that incident.
Sanderson admitted carrying the knife during but denied wounding with intent.
Jurors, however, found there was too much evidence weighing against him in regards to killing Mr Mayer and assaulting the taxi driver.
On Friday, Sanderson was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 24 years.
Both Till and Reid were locked up for five years.
