'Cowards who showed no remorse' for murder of family man in West Bromwich jailed for more than 45 years

Mr Adams, who lived on the Yew Tree estate on the Sandwell-Walsall border, was hurt when violence struck inside and outside The Gough Arms, in Jowett's Lane, Stone Cross, West Bromwich, in the early hours of March 19, 2023. 

The father-of-two died four days later from an infection of the lungs and excessive codeine which was taken at home to help recover from his injuries. He had been at a family disco at the busy public house  with his partner Amy Pole when she was called rude names by a group of people who attacked him when he came to her defence. 

In her victim impact statement which was read aloud at Wolverhampton Crown Court his sister Natalie Adams described the perpetrators as 'cowards who carried out the attack showing little of no remorse which I find disgusting." She said Her brother was the youngest of three siblings and was "loved and adored  by everyone" by them for his  cheeky personality and made the family laugh. She said he was a "gentle and kind" with a "heart of gold" and did not have a "bad bone in his body". He would greet them with "big smiles and a massive hug" and that he had bene "cruelly taken" from them.

"On March 23, 2023 our lives changed forever. Our hearts were shattered a into a million pieces,"  Miss Adams added.

Sentencing five people on Monday Judge Michael Chambers KC said: "I find all five defendants were the aggressors towards Matthew Adams and Amy Pole. Those involved were being using abusive language, were staring at her and closed in on her. This is what prompted the action of the deceased who lunged forward. This is not a case of self-defence, but a case of punishment being given by assaulting them either directly or by encouraging others to do so. 

"This was effectively an act of retribution. It started in the pub and continued outside. Mark Shorthouse was involved in unlawful violence throughout. Nicola Stanley immediately struck the deceased a number of times, when Amy Pole sought to rescue Mr Adams, Nicola Stanley sought to pull her off to enable Ryan Stanley to continue the attack."

He said the actions of Mark Shorthouse incited the victim to swing his head towards John Wise. He said during the melee Ryan Stanley held on to Mr Adams so that Wise could repeatedly punch him on the head. He was also kicked and stomped upon during the incident. 

"It was obvious that Mr Adams was manhandled. He wasn't a threat," the judge said. He told the court that it was accepted by the prosecution that the victim bit Wise.  

The judge said that in his judgement, the fact the the victim decided to go home and sleep off his discomfort instead of going to hospital was down to his perception that he was due to start a new job on the Monday morning after the disorder and this was "a decision he was entitled to take".  

All the defendants were convicted for their roles following a trial held in November last year. 

Mitigating on behalf of Shorthouse, who had 44 previous convictions for 55 offences up to 2012,  Mr Amjad Malik KC asked the court to take in account that the defendant suffered from schizo affected disorder and had since been transferred to the Reaside mental health clinic for treatment, but the judge replied that doctors said Shorthouse was not experiencing illness at the time of the murder.

For murder Mark Shorthouse, aged 54; Ryan Stanley, aged 31; and John Wise, aged 43, were each sentenced to minimum life terms of 13 years and 234 days to take account of the time already spent in custody on prison remand. A 17-year-old, who cannot be named due to being under 18, was sentenced to five years and 234 days youth detention for murder. There was no separate penalty given to these defendants for the offence of violent disorder. 

For violent disorder Nicola Stanley, aged 40, also of Sandwell, was jailed for 20 months.