A man has been jailed for life for killing a “loving father of four" during a brutal knife attack in Wolverhampton.

Richard Helm was attacked by Danny Cooper - a man he’d never met before - in Raven Crescent, Ashmore Park, on 12 October last year.

Hours earlier, 32-year-old Cooper, from Maytree Close in Chelmsley Wood, had assaulted Mr Helm’s sister and hurled bricks through the windows of her home in Adey Road.

And when her brothers went to find out what happened, Cooper stabbed 37-year-old Richard Helm in the chest; the knife pierced his heart and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Cooper fled with his friend Ashley Wilson but was arrested by West Midlands Police in Chelmsley Wood on 21 October after going on the run, while Wilson, from Guernsey Drive in Solihull, had already handed himself in to police.

Cooper denied murder but was found guilty following a three-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. He was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 24 years behind bars.

Wilson was convicted of manslaughter for his involvement, and jailed for eight years.