'Untouchable' teenage drug dealer jailed for life for stabbing young father to death
A 17-year-old boy has been jailed for life for stabbing a young man to death after a disagreement about drugs.
Emar Wiley, a teenage drug dealer, stabbed father-of-one Lewis Bagshaw, 21, in his chest after an argument in July last year, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
The pair, both from Sheffield, were said to have argued over an incident in May 2019 in which Wiley fractured Bagshaw’s father’s skull following an argument over £200 of crack cocaine.
Wiley chased Bagshaw and stabbed him twice in the chest on 21 July, 2019 before Bagshaw ran into a nearby garden to get help.
He was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later from wounds to his heart and lungs, leaving behind a two-year-old son.
The court heard on Monday how Wiley had become “desensitised to violence” and had previously described himself as “untouchable”.
Sentencing Wiley on Monday, Justice Matthew Nicklin said: “Tomorrow will be a year since Lewis’s death. For them [Lewis’s family] no sentence the court can impose can ease the pain.
“Knives are deadly weapons and those who use them should be sentenced to reflect society’s horror and revulsion at the devastation they cause.”
Bagshaw’s grandmother Pauline Bagshaw said the family would be “forever heart broken”.
The statement on behalf of his family said: “There are no words to describe the pain me and my family are going through, not just now but for the rest of our lives.
“One day the person who killed Lewis will walk free but we will be forever heart broken. We are all deeply suffering and our lives will never be the same again.”
Wiley was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years in prison for the murder of Bagshaw.
He will also serve five-and-a-half years for grievous bodily harm and three years possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply. Those sentences will be served concurrently.
DCI Jude Ashmore, the officer investigating the murder, said: “Over the course of the last 12 months, we have worked extremely hard to get justice for Lewis’s loved ones.
“No amount of punishment can ever bring him back, but I hope the sentence passed today goes some way to offer some comfort to Lewis’s family.
“Through a single, senseless, act of violence, Emar Wiley has ruined so many lives, including his own.
“He has robbed a much-loved young man of his future, and a child of a life with his dad.
“Again I want to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to Lewis’s family, partner Olivia, and his friends.
“They have all shown immense strength, resilience and dignity throughout the investigation and subsequent trial, where they have heard harrowing details about the night Lewis died.”
