Fatal fight stabbing man jailed

Two groups of people were involved in the fight on the estate

A man has been jailed for nine-and-a-half years after admitting the manslaughter of a teenager.

Daniel Horner, 24, of Watling Road, Norwich, admitted stabbing John Sewell, 18, in the heart on Heartsease Estate during a fight in October last year.

He was jailed at Norwich Crown Court for manslaughter and drugs offences.

Martin Punchard, 39, also of Watling Road, was jailed and a 16-year-old boy sent to a detention centre, both for eight months, for affray.

Wall of silence

The court was told the stabbing occurred when people from the nearby Canary pub on Watling Road on Heartsease Estate became involved in a fight with a group that had been drinking on tennis courts.

Prosecutor Ian James said that after the stabbing Horner ran off but came back later "masquerading as someone who had come from a party".

However, he was pointed out to police and arrested.

In interviews with the police Horner claimed the stabbing was an accident, that he had been attacked and that Mr Sewell had fallen on the knife.

Judge Peter Jacobs sentencing Horner to six years and three months for manslaughter and three years and three months for unrelated drugs offences said police had been up "against a wall of silence with some witnesses, and could not get to the truth".