Three jailed after man stabbed to death in row over electric bike

Terrell Boyce, aged 18, of Hazellwell Street, Birmingham, was convicted in January of the murder of Ronique Thomas in Kings Heath last year.

Boyce was handed a life sentence at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday and will serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.

Nathaniel Daly, 21, of Benmore Avenue, Birmingham, and Kody Stephenson, 20, from Stechford, also stood trial for the offence.

Daly, who was found guilty of manslaughter, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison while Stephenson received six and a half years for robbery.

The trio were involved in the fatal knife attack on 33-year-old Ronique Thomas in the early hours of April 26 last year.

The stabbing was the culmination of an argument over the ownership of an electric bike, which Mr Thomas had reported stolen in October 2022.

In March of last year, Mr Thomas was with his partner in Highgate, Birmingham, when he recognised what he was sure was his bike being ridden by Boyce.

When challenged, Boyce reluctantly handed the bike over but in the weeks after the disagreement he visited the workplace of Mr Thomas’s partner, demanding it be returned to him and making threats of retribution.

By chance, Boyce, Daly and Stephenson were travelling in a taxi on their way through King’s Heath just before 2.30am on April 26, when they spotted the bike parked outside a shop on the High Street.

Boyce instructed the driver to stop and all three got out of the vehicle.

Boyce confronted Mr Thomas, who was in the shop, pulling out a knife then chasing him and striking him several times.

Daly, who was also carrying a knife, joined in the chase while Stephenson grabbed the bike from outside the shop before all three men made off.

Daly was arrested on April 27 whilst Boyce, who had fled Birmingham, was arrested in Scunthorpe the following day.

Two weeks later, after West Midlands Police launched a public appeal to identify the third suspect, Stephenson handed himself into custody.

Det Insp Jim Colclough, from the force's homicide investigations team said: “Ronique Thomas tragically lost his life over an argument about the ownership of an electric bike.

“Terrell Boyce felt slighted by Mr Thomas taking what he believed was his, and in seeking revenge, carried out a vicious attack and robbery with the assistance of Nathaniel Daly and Kody Stephenson.

“Mr Thomas’s family have been left devastated by his loss but I hope today’s sentences offer some reassurance that those responsible are now rightly paying for their actions.”