Three men sentenced in murder of Kieran Shepherd

A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison – and two more sentenced to more than 10 years each – for their parts in the murder of a man in Chelmsford last year.

Zack O’Keefe, of Stafford Green in Langdon Hills, was given the life sentence with a minimum of 23 years at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 23 October for the murder of 30-year-old Kieran Shepherd.

Harrison Carpenter, 20, of Ben Wilson Link in Chelmsford and Joseph Dawe, 20, of Greenland Gardens in Great Baddow, were sentenced to 11 years and 10.5 years in prison respectively for manslaughter.

In a statement read in court at sentencing, Kieran’s mother Julie said:

There are no words to explain how it feels to lose your son, your child that you brought into this world and nurtured and loved more than anything.
Losing Kieran has left a huge hole in my heart that can never be fixed. His sisters have lost their brother, one of whom has had a baby; Kieran will never meet his new niece.
We are a big family. There are no words to explain how each and every one of us feel with this deep loss and pain. To keep going is hard, but we do, and we will keep going in memory of Kieran.
My son may have had his struggles but he was kind, caring and always managed to make people laugh. He never deserved his life to be taken so soon and in such a horrific way.

Speaking after the sentencing, Kieran's father and step-mother, David and Michelle, said:

We have endured a long and painful time seeking justice for our beloved son, Kieran.
No words can ever describe the effect it has had on us as a family - the loss to his step-brothers, niece and nephew, and most of all a daughter growing up without her daddy.
No verdict will ever bring him back, but we are ever grateful his worth, life and story have been acknowledged in court.
We will forever continue to honour his memory.
We would like to thank everyone involved in bringing justice for Kieran.

O'Keefe, Dawe and Carpenter were in Meadgate Avenue on 15 October when they saw Kieran walking his dog and chased him.

O’Keefe fatally stabbed him before the group tried to hide any evidence of their attack and hid overnight in a holiday park in Jaywick.

Officers traced their movements from the crime scene across Essex and across the country to arrest and charge them in the days following the attack, with O’Keefe and Dawe arrested by armed officers in the West Midlands two days after the murder.

All three denied murder, but after a four-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, and almost ten hours of deliberation, the jury found O’Keefe guilty of murder and Carpenter and Dawe guilty of manslaughter.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Lydia George, said:

Kieran’s family have conducted themselves with the upmost dignity for the last 12 months while they wait to see justice done in his case.
I’d like to thank them for their support with our investigation, and while nothing will ever repair the harm done by these three men, I hope today’s sentence can help them continue to come to terms with their loss.
We have worked in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service to prove they were the only ones that could have attacked Kieran, and that none of them tried to stop the attack and that they left him to die.
With our case, prosecutors showed they were all involved and further showed the lengths they went to in trying to avoid justice.

DI George continued:

Everyone has now seen the actions of these men laid bare – they chased Kieran while he ran in fear of his life, they attempted to cover their tracks, and then try and evade police.
O’Keefe in particular gloated online, showing off knives and weapons and making it clear he was capable of – and crucially, willing to – use deadly violence.
They refused to answer our questions in interview. They refused to accept they were responsible for Kieran’s death. They acted without remorse at every stage, and they have now been sentenced accordingly.