Sending Mupolo, of Fleury Rise, Gleadless, Judge Jeremy Richardson told him: “This case demonstrates the dangers of individuals carrying knives and then involving themselves in a fight. The temptation to use the knife is so great that it overwhelms the individual. The knife is then used to devastating and often fatal effect. That is what happened here.
“There can be no doubt, having heard statements from the deceased’s family that he was much loved and his family have been devastated by his death, and the circumstances of his death.
Jurors, who returned a guilty verdict Thursday, November 24, were told that Mupolo and Mr Byrne had been involved in a fight at the pub that spilled into the car park. Coley suffered four stab wounds, with two of them eventually proving fatal. After staggering back into the pub after the attack, he bled out behind the bar before he was taken by ambulance to Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital where he tragically died a short time later.
Mupolo had claimed the ‘fight’ with Mr Byrne started after he had heard a group say some racial remarks and that someone had said under their breath, ‘what are these black b******s doing here?’.But following Mupolo’s conviction for murder, Mr Byrne’s mother Michelle told The Star: “The worst trauma of all is having my son branded a racist and he was not a racist.
“He has never been a racist and half his friends are black. For them to pull that out of the bag is out of order. His niece and nephew are black and it is wrong,” she said.Did you know with a Digital subscription to Yorkshire Post, you can get access to all of our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.