Man Jailed For Bradford Murder

26 July 2018, 18:46 | Updated: 26 July 2018, 18:48

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of Bradford man Tyron Charles.

James Sutcliffe was sentenced today at Bradford Crown Court to a minimum term of 31 years.

Sutcliffe, 29, of Hill Crest Road in Denholme, also received a four-year concurrent sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after he entered into a plan with his parents 62-year-old Janet and 61-year-old Kevin Sutcliffe to dispose of the body.

They both received two years’ imprisonment today for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The body of Mr Charles, who was 29 and a father of three, was found in a bog in Oxenhope Lane on 11 October last year by police. He had been reported missing five weeks earlier.

The court heard that Sutcliffe shot Mr Charles in a shipping container in an allotment last September after Mr Charles and Adrian Williams approached him about a debt of around £800.

He then took the body in his car to Nab Water Lane and dumped it in a bog.

After Sutcliffe was arrested it emerged that he had spoken to his parents about disposing of the body, which resulted in their arrest and subsequent charges for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Speaking after the sentencing today Detective Superintendent Patrick Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Enquiry Team, said:

"This was a wicked crime made worse by Sutcliffe’s callous disregard for the body of his victim.

After shooting Tyron Charles he robbed him and left him to die in a shipping container. He later returned to the scene of his crime to move the body to the moors and dump it in a bog while he considered his next move.

He then entered into a conspiracy with his family to get rid of the body permanently and deny Tyron’s family of their fundamental right to bury him.

All this time Tyron’s family were desperately worried and were appealing through social media to find out what had happened to him.

I would like to thank the police investigation team whose diligent work led to the recovery of Tyron’s body and hope his family will gain some comfort knowing that the man responsible for his murder is now behind bars."

The family of Mr Charles have also released a short statement:

"Our family has been through hell in the last 10 months – first with Tyron going missing and then finding out he was murdered. We then had to wait until his body was found on the moors.

We are absolutely devastated by the appalling behaviour of the Sutcliffes for the lies and the fact they knew where Tyron’s body had been dumped.

Tyron was a wonderful dad, brother and son and had many friends.

No sentence will ever be enough as it will end sometime. We will never get our beloved Tyron back."