'It was like a scene out of a horror movie': Douane Brown jailed for life for stabbing Horace Williams to death in Smethwick shop

Douane Brown had a long running feud with 36-year-old Horace Williams which exploded into horrifying bloodshed when they met by chance at a Bureau de Change that is also an internet cafe in Cape Hill, Smethwick on April 16.

The victim had allegedly pointed a gun at the 39-year-old defendant on an earlier occasion.

Brown saw Mr Williams in the building and returned soon afterwards armed with the knife and stood beside his unarmed rival in the queue for service.

Moments later he pulled a knife from his pocket, withdrew the blade and plunged it into the neck of Mr Williams. The single blow cut through the jugular vein and carotid artery of the victim causing massive blood loss and was captured on CCTV.

The victim staggered out into the street, gesturing to passersby for help and collapsed.

He died within minutes despite the efforts of members of the public and paramedics to save him. Witnesses later told police: 'It was like a scene out of a horror movie.'

Brown calmly walked to a Ford Focus he had borrowed from a garage while his car was being repaired and drove away.

Less than an hour later the father of four called up Google on his phone to check flights to Jamaica where he was born and lived until coming to the UK in 2001.

He booked a seat on a plane that took off from Gatwick on April 18 and paid extra for an increase in his baggage allowance, suggesting he intended to stay longer than the fortnight on his return ticket.

But his bid to escape British justice was halted in the nick of time when he was seen by an armed police patrol in Kendrick Drive, West Bromwich the night before the flight took off, driving the Ford Focus in which he had left the murder scene. He was arrested and pleaded: 'How did you know it was me?'

Police then started receiving calls that claimed that Mr Williams, who only had convictions for motoring offences, was an armed criminal.

It was said he had tried to rob Brown at gunpoint and fallen out with him when he refused to set up a neighbour for a robbery. Mrs Williams today dismissed these allegations as nonsense aimed at reducing the culpability of the murderer.

The defendant was unanimously convicted of murder after a five day trial and jailed for life with minimum of 21 years behind bars before he can be considered for parol.

Judge Mark Wall QC said: "I sentence you on the basis that you had been threatened by Mr Williams in the past and that this included having a gun pointed at you by him.

"There must have been a history between you. This cannot have been a random stabbing and there was nothing in your encounters on the day that could have provoked such a reaction.

"But at the time you stabbed him you did not believe that he posed a threat. You were there for revenge for what he had done to you in the past. You intended to kill him as to have wounded him would be likely to have led to more trouble between you and exacerbated your difficulties with him rather than relieve them."

Detective Inspector Justin Spanner, who led the police investigation, said after the case: "It was a shocking attack that will no doubt stay long in the memory of those who witnessed it. Members of the public came to his aid but the injury was so severe there was nothing that could be done to save him.

"He managed to flee immediately after the attack but was quickly in custody after a police patrol spotted him driving a car linked to him.

"I hope Mr Williams' friends and family can take some comfort, having seen justice done in the knowledge that Brown will now spend much of his life locked up."