Shiloh Pottinger, pictured right, had reacted ‘violently and unpredictably’ towards Luke O’Connor, pictured left (Picture: PA / MEN Media)
A music producer was jailed for stabbing another student eight times over a joke about a skateboard.
Luke O’Connor, 19, was killed with a 13-inch ‘mafia stiletto’ knife on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, south Manchester, last year.
Shiloh Pottinger, 20, had reacted ‘violently and unpredictably’ to a jokey remark made about his skateboard by a friend of Luke’s.
He received a 15-year prison sentence at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of manslaughter during a trial.
Luke’s mother Carolyn O’Connor looked directly at Pottinger in the dock as she told the court: ‘I refuse your name to pass my lips because you don’t deserve it. Luke was the man you will never be.
‘He was a gentle giant and had a heart of gold, and the kindest of souls.’
His father Jason, a senior tech firm manager, said knives like the one used on his son had no place ‘in a civilised society’.
Luke, 19, was killed with a 13-inch ‘mafia stiletto’ knife in Manchester last year (Picture: PA)
Police at the scene on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, south Manchester, on October 26 after the attack (Picture: MEN Media)
‘I feel intense shock, disbelief and denial,’ he added. ‘I miss Luke more than you could explain in words.’
The court heard a fight broke out at around 2am on October 26 after Luke’s friend, Charlie Robertson, asked to perform a ‘kick flick’ on Pottinger’s skateboard.
London BIMM university student Pottinger reacted ‘pathetically’ to the remark and started making threats of violence.
But Luke, a rugby player, instead stood up to Pottinger and laughed.
Pottinger, who was 19 at the time, initially used his skateboard to attack Manchester Metropolitan University student Luke, then stabbed him with the blade eight times before fleeing.
CCTV footage showed Luke left laying bleeding in the road.
Pottinger, 20, received a 15-year prison sentence at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of manslaughter during a trial (Picture: PA)
A fight broke out at around 2am after Luke’s friend asked to perform a ‘kick flick’ on Pottinger’s skateboard (Picture: MEN Media)
Pottinger searched on the internet for ‘how long do you serve for killing someone?’ and ‘how much time do you get for knife murder?’ before his arrest two days later.
He told police he brandished the knife because he was ‘scared’ and wanted to ‘get away’ – but did not want to cause Luke ‘really serious harm’.
The defendant also said the weapon was a ‘fashion statement’.
Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: ‘In my judgment you bought it because it gave you a sense of empowerment to carry it.
‘One of Luke’s qualities was he stood up to bullies. That Luke stood up to you led you to attack Luke the way you did.
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‘As Luke’s mother said: one person is to blame for Luke not being with her today. One person that chose to walk out of his house that night with a lethal weapon.
‘This person has shown no remorse and not taken any responsibility for his actions. That person is you, Shiloh Pottinger.’
He rejected Pottinger’s claims he bought the knife as a tool for his skateboard.
Luke’s family said in a statement outside court: ‘We are truly devastated by this tragedy. Luke was loved by so many people, and he knew how much he was loved in return.
‘We are relieved Shiloh Pottinger is now behind bars although his sentence in no way compares to our life sentence.’
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Shiloh Pottinger, pictured right, had reacted ‘violently and unpredictably’ towards Luke O’Connor, pictured left (Picture: PA / MEN Media)
A music producer was jailed for stabbing another student eight times over a joke about a skateboard.
Luke O’Connor, 19, was killed with a 13-inch ‘mafia stiletto’ knife on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, south Manchester, last year.
Shiloh Pottinger, 20, had reacted ‘violently and unpredictably’ to a jokey remark made about his skateboard by a friend of Luke’s.
He received a 15-year prison sentence at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of manslaughter during a trial.
Luke’s mother Carolyn O’Connor looked directly at Pottinger in the dock as she told the court: ‘I refuse your name to pass my lips because you don’t deserve it. Luke was the man you will never be.
‘He was a gentle giant and had a heart of gold, and the kindest of souls.’
His father Jason, a senior tech firm manager, said knives like the one used on his son had no place ‘in a civilised society’.
Luke, 19, was killed with a 13-inch ‘mafia stiletto’ knife in Manchester last year (Picture: PA)
Police at the scene on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, south Manchester, on October 26 after the attack (Picture: MEN Media)
‘I feel intense shock, disbelief and denial,’ he added. ‘I miss Luke more than you could explain in words.’
The court heard a fight broke out at around 2am on October 26 after Luke’s friend, Charlie Robertson, asked to perform a ‘kick flick’ on Pottinger’s skateboard.
London BIMM university student Pottinger reacted ‘pathetically’ to the remark and started making threats of violence.
But Luke, a rugby player, instead stood up to Pottinger and laughed.
Pottinger, who was 19 at the time, initially used his skateboard to attack Manchester Metropolitan University student Luke, then stabbed him with the blade eight times before fleeing.
CCTV footage showed Luke left laying bleeding in the road.
Pottinger, 20, received a 15-year prison sentence at Manchester Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of manslaughter during a trial (Picture: PA)
A fight broke out at around 2am after Luke’s friend asked to perform a ‘kick flick’ on Pottinger’s skateboard (Picture: MEN Media)
Pottinger searched on the internet for ‘how long do you serve for killing someone?’ and ‘how much time do you get for knife murder?’ before his arrest two days later.
He told police he brandished the knife because he was ‘scared’ and wanted to ‘get away’ – but did not want to cause Luke ‘really serious harm’.
The defendant also said the weapon was a ‘fashion statement’.
Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: ‘In my judgment you bought it because it gave you a sense of empowerment to carry it.
‘One of Luke’s qualities was he stood up to bullies. That Luke stood up to you led you to attack Luke the way you did.
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‘As Luke’s mother said: one person is to blame for Luke not being with her today. One person that chose to walk out of his house that night with a lethal weapon.
‘This person has shown no remorse and not taken any responsibility for his actions. That person is you, Shiloh Pottinger.’
He rejected Pottinger’s claims he bought the knife as a tool for his skateboard.
Luke’s family said in a statement outside court: ‘We are truly devastated by this tragedy. Luke was loved by so many people, and he knew how much he was loved in return.
‘We are relieved Shiloh Pottinger is now behind bars although his sentence in no way compares to our life sentence.’
For more stories like this, check our news page.