Man who stabbed teen to death with sword jailed

A man who fatally stabbed a teenager in the back with a sword during a "revenge attack" has been jailed.

Alfie Milburn assaulted Harry Abbott, 19, after the victim and four others ambushed him near his home in Seacroft, Leeds, in October 2025 following two violent incidents that took place a few days previously.

After being stabbed and "near death", Harry was taken to a different address by his associates and was later pronounced dead.

Milburn, 20, of Ings Road, Leeds, was convicted of manslaughter and carrying a bladed weapon at Leeds Crown Court and was sentenced earlier to nine years in a young offenders' institution and a further five years on licence.

The court heard Harry and the four others had arrived at Milburn's street in a stolen Ford Focus all armed with weapons and wearing balaclavas to "exact revenge".

Two of them had been stabbed recently and believed Milburn was involved.

After Milburn locked himself into his house - with his baby and girlfriend also inside - the others attacked his front door, so Milburn opened it armed with a sword.

Milburn also had various other bladed weapons in his home.

The court was told he then stabbed Harry in the back of the chest with such force it punctured an artery and pierced bone in four places.

CCTV showed Harry's "lifeless" body then being taken by the group to a family member's address in nearby Harehills before the stolen car was abandoned.

Though Milburn claimed he was acting in self-defence, Judge Simon Phillips KC said he could have phoned the police for help, but instead he "struck Harry in the back of the chest; you had fearsome weapons at your disposal".

Milburn was seen later that day shopping in Morrisons for baby clothes and showed "no panic and was not demonstrably upset", Judge Phillips added.

He later fled the country, travelling first to Dublin and then to Northern Ireland. A public appeal for information about his whereabouts was made before he was arrested at Belfast International Airport.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by Harry's older sister Shannon, she said Harry was the only boy in a family of girls and was "adored".

She described how she had to tell their mother how her son had been killed and how she herself is suffering from PTSD after the trauma of the trial.

"Nothing prepares you for seeing the final moments of a loved one," she said.

Ms Abbott also said that Harry missed out on the chance to be a father as his baby was born three months after he died.

"You stole that from us," she told Milburn.

"You meant to kill him, not scare or warn him...it is a wrong that can never be made right and we never got to say a final goodbye."

She also claimed Harry was not "directly involved" in the dispute, but was merely there to support his cousin.

Mitigating, Gillian Batts KC said Harry was "leading the charge" in the revenge attack and the group were "forensically aware" about weapons and disguising themselves.

She also Milburn had written a letter apologising to Harry's family.

Passing sentence, Judge Phillips said: "It was an act of violence that was excessive, brutal and disproportionate.

"It ended a life and brought grief and misery to his friends and family."

The three other men who accompanied Harry have admitted conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm and possessing offensive weapons or bladed articles and will be sentenced at a later date.

Senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp Matt Holdsworth of West Yorkshire Police said: "This case shows the absolutely devastating effects of knife crime, one life was lost that day, but countless others have been irrecoverably ruined."

He added: "As a society we must do all we can to educate and deter people from carrying knives, machetes and other weapons that can cause so much harm."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.