Two jailed for helping killers hide key evidence

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0lpzr3e5r5o

Version 0 of 1.

Shereen Brown and Javayne John have been jailed for helping Khayri Mclean's killers

Two people who helped two teenage killers hide their clothes and possibly murder weapons have each been jailed.

Shereen Brown, 40, of Dewhurst Road, Fartown, was previously found guilty of perverting the course of justice in relation to investigations following the death of 15-year-old Khayri Mclean in Huddersfield in September 2022.

Javayne John, 22, of Annie Smith Way, Birkby, had already admitted the same offence.

Brown was jailed for 30 months at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, with John sentenced to 20 months in prison.

The court heard Brown was the godmother of one of Khayri's killers, Jakele Pusey, while John was his half-brother.

Brown and John were caught on CCTV moving the bags

His Honour Judge Neil Clark said both defendants had formed a plan, possibly alongside others, to hide "highly relevant bits of evidence" which had never been found.

"What was happening here was a concerted effort to frustrate the investigation into the serious matter of a stabbing of a school child," he told the court.

"Even if they didn't realise Khayri McLean had been murdered, everybody would have known that this was very serious."

The hearing was told Pusey, then aged 15, and his co-defendant, Jovani Harriott, then aged 17, had changed clothes before and after the attack on 21 September 2022.

They had been seen on CCTV carrying bags into an alleyway close to some woodland before emerging in different outfits.

Prosecution barrister Ben Hammersley said the bags had contained clothing and "potentially" murder weapons.

After Khayri was fatally stabbed as he walked home from school, the court heard a series of phone calls were made between Brown, John and others who knew the killers.

Brown and John were later seen on CCTV heading towards the woodland where the bags were believed to have been hidden and then emerging with them.

John, who has no previous convictions, was then seen taking the bags into a car before returning without them.

Khayri Mclean was killed in Huddersfield in September 2022

Mitigating, Danielle Graham said the act of her client, then aged 20, "appeared to be one of instinct borne out of love for his brother, combined with his immaturity and limited thinking skills".

She claimed he had not been aware of the "full horror of what happened".

Mitigating for Brown, Rick Holland said she was a single mother who held two cleaning jobs.

It was "difficult to see" there had been any other motivation aside misplaced loyalty, he added.

However, Judge Clark said Brown should have had consideration for Khayri's mother while trying to protect her godson.

He told the defendants their "misplaced loyalty can hardly be said to be an excuse".

Nation 'shocked'

Det Supt Marc Bowes from West Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation into Khayri’s murder, said the teenager's death "shocked not only the local community, but the nation".

“Perverting the Course of Justice is an extremely serious offence, and it is difficult to think of a more extreme example than trying to assist two killers evade arrest for the brutal murder of a schoolboy in broad daylight."

John's sentence was reduced by one third because of his guilty plea.

Judge Clark said the defendants could potentially serve less than half of their sentence in prison.

He said the situation was "fluid depending on the crowding in prisons and government decisions".

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here, external.