Daniel Saunders murder: Bury St Edmunds teenager Kieran Hayward given life sentence

A 17-year-old from Bury St Edmunds will serve at least 19 years in jail after being found guilty of murdering Daniel Saunders.

The teenager - who can now be named as Kieran Hayward, of Hasted Close - was given a life sentence by Ipswich Crown Court today (Monday, October 7).

Surrey man Mr Saunders was 32 when he was fatally stabbed during an attack in Turin Street, Ipswich, on December 16 last year. He died at the scene.

Suffolk Constabulary's investigation found Mr Saunders, on the night he died, was with a friend when he spotted Hayward.

The pair recognised Hayward as a drug dealer, with the 17-year-old working as a runner for an organisation called Rico and Frank.

A police spokesman said: "Daniel Saunders bought some drugs from Hayward, at which point his friend – who was then walking back out of the alleyway – heard Daniel cry out and the saw him running away with blood pouring from his stomach and Hayward holding a large knife.

"Daniel’s friend attested that Hayward then ran towards him and so he ran away fearing for his own life."

Mr Saunders sustained a single stab wound to the abdomen by a one foot blade, suffering catastrophic blood loss.

Hayward was found guilty after a six week trial over the summer. He was also sentenced to 12 months detention and training to run concurrently, for possession of a bladed article in December last year.

Five others were also convicted in relation to the attack, with the jury finding them guilty for the offence of assisting an offender.

Four of them have been sentenced today:

- Benjamin Gosbell, 20, of Gratian Close, Highwoods, Colchester. Jailed for 30 months.

- Arjun Jadeja, 18, of The Nook, Wivenhoe. Sentenced to 30 months’ detention in a Young Offender Institution.

- Kieran Elliott, 17, of Stanford Road, Colchester. Sentenced to an 18-month detention and training order.

- Olusola Durojaiye, 33, of Appleton Mews, Colchester. Sentenced to 12-months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, 250 hours unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

A 16-year-old boy from Bury St Edmunds (who cannot be named for legal reasons), who was also convicted of assisting an offender, will be sentenced on October 25.

Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Millar, the Senior Investigating Officer, said: "The sentences handed down today reflect the severity of the crime and I hope will allow Daniel Saunders’ family to now begin the slow process of moving forward with their lives.

"This was a fast-moving investigation from the very beginning and due to the hard work of all the officers and staff involved, we were very quickly able to identify Kieran Hayward as the prime suspect for the murder, along with a number of his associates, culminating in the arrests of Hayward and three of the others just four days after the attack.

"Everyone involved with investigating this case worked extremely hard to enable us to gather all the evidence, make further arrests, bring charges and be ready to go to trial all in the space of sixth months, which was no easy task.

"Daniel’s murder was an act of extreme violence and has once again demonstrated how dangerous the world of drug-dealing is and which has seemingly become more violent since the advent of county lines.

"Suffolk Police continues to do all it can to tackle the evil world of drugs supply and the associated knife crime that often goes with it."