William Campbell jailed for Sunderland brother murder

A man who murdered his brother during a drunken row in front of their mother has been jailed for at least 21 years.

William Campbell, 26, stabbed 24-year-old Samuel Campbell in the chest at the family home in Silksworth, Sunderland, on 18 June.

Newcastle Crown Court heard there was a history of violence between them that went "well beyond normal sibling disagreement".

Campbell, of Allen Court, Stokesley, was sentenced to life.

The court heard Campbell had been binge drinking in Sunderland before he returned to the family's home in Park Avenue at about midnight, where he found his younger brother in the garden.

Mr Campbell had also been drinking, the court heard, and was waiting for his brother to return so they could have a drink together.

But a row erupted when Campbell took exception at the way his brother was talking to his own dog Marley.

Their argument raised their mother, who tried to act as "peacemaker", but after a few moments Campbell took a knife from the kitchen, followed his younger sibling outside and plunged it through his chest and into his heart.

Campbell then attempted to resuscitate his brother as paramedics were called but Mr Campbell was declared dead at 01:43 BST.

In a police video filmed during Campbell's arrest, he is heard saying he stabbed his brother "out of rage" and he was "sorry".

Mr Campbell's partner Alice Gray told the court the murder had "utterly devastated my life and broken my heart".

He was "kind, loving and gentle", she said, and his death had a "catastrophic" impact on her, causing her to lose her voice and struggle with sleep.

She said she visited his grave every day and had gone there at night "to sit and be beside him".

In a statement read to the court by Campbell's lawyer Nicholas Lumley QC, the brothers' father Edward Campbell said the killing and resulting murder conviction had hit the family "extremely hard".

He said the brothers "grew up extremely close" and "for the most part this was a loving supportive relationship" despite "sibling unrest".

But Judge Paul Sloan QC said a history of violence between the pair "went well beyond normal sibling disagreement" or "spats that can occur between brothers".

The judge said Campbell had documented the previous occasions when the two had fought and the defendant had attacked his brother "with weapons".

He said the argument had been over something "totally insignificant" and, had Campbell been sober, he would have known there was a "very high risk" he could kill his brother.

The judge said he had no doubt Campbell "bitterly regrets" his actions but will have to live "the rest of your life in the knowledge you murdered him".

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