Jay Cotterill jailed for 11 years after fatal Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge, stabbing
The family and friends of a man who was stabbed to death in a Suffolk village have spoken of their grief as his attacker was jailed.
Jay Cotterill, 43, of Ipswich Avenue, Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge, was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court today.
He had been found guilty of manslaughter at Ipswich Crown Court on June 14.
Cotterill stabbed Richard Hunt, 37, of Ipswich, to death in Ipswich Avenue on October 8 after an altercation between the two, which included Mr Hunt assaulting Cotterill with a baseball bat.
The court was told that Cotterill then went back inside to arm himself with a large kitchen knife and at this point his partner dialled 999.
The pair were known to each other and had both previously been in a relationship with the same woman.
Mr Hunt had been in a longer-term relationship with her for approximately seven years - ending around 2016 - whereas her relationship with Cotterill had been more recent, beginning in about May 2023 and ending shortly before the events of October 8.
At the time of the attack Cotterill was staying in Sutton Heath with his current partner, who he had been in a relationship with prior to his time living with Mr Hunt’s ex-partner.
In a witness statement provided by Mr Hunt’s mother, Amanda Harwood, prosecutor Andrew Jackson described how the incident had affected her.
The statement read: “My first born was Richard, my flesh and blood who I loved and will always love, who will forever be in my heart.
“There will be no more special times. He was taken away with me with no chance for reconciliation.
“I cry all the time, even to the point where strangers ask me why I’m crying.
“That knife may as well have have gone into my heart.”
The incident also affected her professional life, as she was no longer able to practise her role as a nurse, as she had for many years, and had registered for counselling.
However, she also spoke of the fond memories with Mr Hunt, his love of cars and rugby, the holidays they took together and his upbringing.
She recalled that her last words she spoke to her son were ‘I love you’.
Mr Hunt’s former partner also provided a statement to the court, which was read by Mr Jackson
Mr Jackson, reading it on her behalf, said Mr Hunt was a devoted father and ‘had a good soul’.
“We all have our troublesome things that we have to face,” he said.
In a statement read to the court by Mr Jackson, Mr Hunt’s father, Jim, said his son was taken at the prime of his life.
“For a father to lay his son to rest, that’s a life of grief,” he said.
“I’ve had so many sleepless nights, I’m fatigued, I’ve been calling off work because it became a struggle. I didn’t want to do anything.
“The last memory I have of Richard was at work, now all I have are memories.”
Shaun Banyard, a childhood friend of Mr Hunt, shared some of the memories they had together, including their time at school and their shared hobbies in a statement read by Mr Jackson.
“I still feel I have many things I’d like to say to him,” he said.
“We used to live at YMCA together and I hadn’t seen Richard in four years as we got on with our lives.
“However, it wanted him to be the best man at my wedding – I couldn’t think of anyone else.”
He closed his statement by saying that he will always remember where he was when he heard the news of his friend’s death.
He recalled collapsing, screaming and that ‘nothing anyone could say could bring him back around’.
Mr Banyard added: “He was like a brother to me, between him and my dad, they made me the man I am today.
“I see things around Ipswich that constantly remind me of him.”
Cotterill protested loudly as statements from the prosecution were read aloud.
He had 29 previous convictions for 63 offences, the court was told.
Officers were called to the stabbing shortly before 9pm on October 8.
The night before the incident, Cotterill and his partner spent a night away in Norwich when she discovered messages from Mr Hunt’s ex-partner on his phone.
She left the hotel with the phone and drove home to Sutton Heath and once back she answered a call on Cotterill’s phone from Mr Hunt’s ex.
The conversation escalated into a heated exchange of insults, with Mr Hunt’s ex-partner threatening to reveal her relationship with Cotterill to Mr Hunt. This then triggered a series of hostile messages via Facebook and text between Cotterill and his partner on one side, and Mr Hunt and his ex-partner on the other side.
On October 8, Mr Hunt took a baseball bat from the car, began banging on the front windows, and threw a child’s scooter onto a property’s roof, drawing the attention of neighbours.
Cotterill exited through the back door to confront Mr Hunt, leading to a fight outside the home.
During the altercation, Cotterill was struck in the face with the baseball bat and it was then alleged that Cotterill managed to take hold of the bat and strike both Mr Hunt and his ex-partner with it.
Mr Hunt suffered seven stab wounds, two of which were fatal.
Cotterill’s partner and their two children were in the process of heading to bed at the time of the attack and were ‘clearly terrified by the noise and the violence outside’.
When delivering the sentence, Judge Martyn Levett said: “Nothing I can do is restore the life of Richard Hunt.
“It was a devastating loss that will follow the family forever.”
Cotterill was originally charged with murder, but a jury cleared him of this and instead convicted him of manslaughter.
He was also cleared of actual bodily harm against Mr Hunt’s former partner.
Judge Levett said Cotterill must spend a minimum of 11 years behind bars, plus an additional three years on licence.
After the hearing, Jim Hunt expressed his disappointment with the amount of time Cotterill will spend behind bars.
He said: “There’s nothing I can do. The judge has made his decision and that’s it. What can I say?
“I couldn’t believe all his previous convictions, it was unbelievable.”
