How night of violence at boxing bout ended in teenager's death
It started with a full plastic cup being tossed into the air but soon tables, chairs and punches were being thrown at the end of a boxing night’s headline bout.
The violence would end with a young man being stabbed to death outside Walsall Town Hall where the ill-fated evening took place.
Increasingly rowdy rival fans clashed as the near 600-strong crowd waited for the judges’ verdict at the end of the title fight involving a local fighter and one from Derbyshire.
And as the trouble then sprawled outside, tragedy would strike and the life of a teenage boxing and football fan, Reagan Asbury, would be devastatingly cut short.
Tyrone Andrew, who had come from Derby to watch the fight, stabbed Reagan in the neck in what a jury ultimately ruled was self-defence.
Reagan, 19, from Walsall, died in hospital the following night as a result of a single stab wound, which cut through his carotid artery and was 2.4in to 2.8in (6cm-7cm) deep.
Today, Detective Inspector Justin Spanner, part of West Midlands Police’s homicide team, led the tributes.
He said: “Reagan was a kind and considerate, caring young man. His parents are obviously devastated by the loss of their son.
“The fact they will never see or hold their son again is something they can’t comprehend.”
The boxing event was an IBF Lightweight fight between Derby-based Myron Mills and Walsall fighter Luke Paddock last October
A jury in a seven-week trial was told fans of Mills were first spotted banging on tables and lunging forward ‘as if they wanted to kick off’, while Walsall supporters were told to calm down.
But tensions started to rise as Derby fans became more aggressive and began provoking rival fans, with a brawl breaking out in the town hall.
WATCH: Footage shows town hall violence as Reagan's sister speaks out
Tables were thrown over while troublemakers hurled chairs and glasses across the venue, prosecutor Mr Michael Burrows QC said.
The melee then poured outside the town hall, with Walsall and Derby supporters coming to blows in the mayhem.
The trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard CCTV captured Andrew being tackled and then getting to his feet and picking what appeared to be a knife.
The defendant jogged towards Reagan while his back was turned and stabbed him in the neck, jurors were told.
Andrew said he was acting in self-defence, and was under threat when he fatally wounded his victim.
Keen footballer Mr Asbury stumbled towards the town hall after he was stabbed as medics battled to save him but he died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham the following night.
A post mortem revealed the wound to his neck was 7cm deep and had almost severed his jugular vein.
The killer approached co-defendant Ryandeep Sidhu, who was parked in Lichfield Street, and handed him the blood-stained weapon after the stabbings.
Declan Kemp Francis, who was yesterday found guilty of perverting the course of justice, then drove Andrew back to his Derby flat.
Andrew then changed his clothes, ordered a taxi to take him to Birmingham Airport and boarded a plane to Holland, before later moving on to France and Spain.
DI Spanner said: “Identifying who the offender was was our first step, and we did that forensically.
“We had CCTV at the location, and he was wearing some quite distinctive clothing.
“We were able to follow Andrew away from the scene with his associates, and we noticed on that route, there was a blood trail. Our DNA database was searched and it came back to Tyrone Andrew.
“Our information is he went from Holland to France and ended up in Spain, where he finally decided to give himself up.
“We applied and got a European arrest warrant and bought him back to this country to face trial.”
