JAMES Ireland has been jailed for life after brutally murdering a man in his own home in Warrington.

Shouts of 'rot in hell' could be heard from a bereaved fiancée as Ireland left the dock after learning his fate this morning, Thursday.

Last month, the 41-year-old dad, of Lodge Lane, Bewsey, was found guilty of stabbing Billy Moore to death during a vicious attack on Yardley Avenue just days before Christmas 2022.

Ireland returned to Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing today and received a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years.

He was convicted of murder by a unanimous jury following a seven-day trial in July.

On December 22 of last year, Ireland, made his way to Mr Moore’s address after hearing he had approached his two young relatives in the street which had scared them.

The court was told how as Mr Moore approached the girls, he shouted something similar to: “Oi, oi, what, what?”

Once at Mr Moore’s home, Ireland launched an ‘unprovoked and deadly attack’, stabbing the 31-year-old to the chest, face, and throat multiple times.

The court heard from prosecutor Iain Simkin how Ireland left his victim there to die before ‘covering his tracks’ which included him discarding the knife he’d used and the bloodied clothing he had been wearing at the time.

Warrington Guardian:

He then ‘lay low’ for two days before handing himself in.

During the trial, it was heard how Ireland liked collecting knives – which he displayed throughout his home – as he found them ‘nice to look at'.

Liverpool Crown Court was told how the defendant and victim briefly knew each other and lived just streets away. And less than half an hour before the incident, they had bumped into one another near a local shop and had talked briefly and even hugged as they parted.

The nature of Mr Moore’s wounds were revealed after a postmortem was carried out at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital on December 23.

Mr Moore, who at the time of the attack was wearing four layers of clothing on his upper body, had ‘incised wounds’ which were caused by a  knife.

He had stab wounds below his eye, on his face, on his lower neck, on his chest and on his forearm.

During today's sentencing, a victim impact statement from a member of Mr Moore’s family was read to the court by Mr Simkin.

 "At 31 years old, Billy was just at the beginning of his life.

"He was an avid boxing fan and volunteered his time to a homeless charity.

"While your hobbies may have included collecting knives, Billy collected books.

"He was beautifully intelligent and had a wicked sense of humour.

"We grieve for Billy, for the difficulties he experienced in his life, for his horrendous death, and for the future he will never have.

"There is no punishment you can ever receive that will compare to the pain that you caused us."

Before passing sentence, judge Andrew Menary KC, the honorary recorder of Liverpool, said: “I am sure that for no sufficient reason, you simply lost your temper that night, that you were the aggressor, that you were not under threat of attack, and that you were not acting under self defence.

“You were the person acting aggressively that night, I am sure you began the fighting, that is why you went to his house.

“It wasn’t simply to make an honest inquiry about what he had done or said earlier.

“There was no history of bad feeling between you and in fact only a short time before the fatal event, you and he had bumped into each other that night at a local bus stop not far from where you both lived – you and he chatted briefly and embraced before parting your separate ways.

“The reality is that you began the fighting and at some point grabbed a knife and used this repeatedly to stab Mr Moore to the face, the neck, and the body causing horrific injuries.

“Mr Moore was then 31 years of age at the time of his death and this was a senseless and pointless killing and resulted simply, in my judgement, from your loss of temper and aggressive rage.”