Moment murderer jokes 'see you in 15 years' after stabbing shop worker

A deli worker who murdered a staff member from the business next door after a row over sausage rolls jokingly told a neighbour 'I will see you in 15 years' before he handed himself in to the police.

Doorbell footage captured Alder Willis, 68, making the joke after he stabbed Andrew Darn, 35, in the rib cage outside a shop on the Tyne Tunnel Estate in North Tyneside in March.

Newcastle Crown Court also heard he contacted a friend to tell them he wouldn't be going to Benidorm on a planned holiday anymore.

Willis, who denied murder and having a bladed article, was today sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum term of 18 years.

The Deli Sandwich Shop employee Willis had 'long standing' tension with Mr Darn, who worked at Easy Access Garage Doors, dating back to 2010, the court was told.

On the day before tragic incident, Mr Darn's colleague Linda Hedgcock was accused of hitting Susan Clark, who worked at the deli with her partner Willis, with a sausage roll.

Ms Hedgcock, co-owner of the garage company, told jurors she had been feeding the seagulls on March 26, adding: 'I was breaking them up into little pieces and then throwing them up.'

Whilst she was doing this, Ms Clark walked past and 'said it [the sausage roll] had hit her' and then allegedly 'thumped' Ms Hedgcock on the arm and face.

The court heard Willis then arrived and Miss Hedgcock said he 'added his bit' and was 'sweary'.

Ms Hedgcock said Willis then made a threat towards Mr Darn saying he was going to 'kill him or stab him, something like that'.

Father-of-three Mr Darn told his partner later that day he thought that this incident was the 'catalyst' for Willis' hostility towards him and he had been worried about going to work on the morning he was murdered.

The court heard Ms Hedgcock arrived at work early the next morning and saw Mr Darn in his car, sitting in the driver's seat, looking downwards.

Ms Hedgcock told the court: 'He was dead.'

At 8am, the two men confronted each other and the resulting altercation ended when Willis stabbed the victim in the rib cage.

Prosecutor Francis Fitzgibbon KC said: 'On March 27 this year at about 8am the defendant Mr Willis and a man named Andrew Darn confronted each other in the street outside their neighbouring places of work at the Tyne Tunnel Industrial Estate.

'Mr Darn threw a punch at the defendant. The defendant responded by pulling a knife that he had in his pocket and stabbing Mr Darn, once.

'The knife went up through Mr Darn's rib cage and went into the area around his heart and into his aorta.

'He managed to get into his car, where he died as a result of the stab wound.'

Judge Paul Sloan KC said there had been a long-standing dispute which included 'bickering' which lasted for over a decade.

The judge said: 'It was all very trivial and childish.

'Mr Darn had not been party to this long standing dispute. He had only been employed at Easy Access Garage Doors a couple years prior to his killing, since April of 2022.'

The judge added: 'It was a deliberate and cowardly use of a lethal weapon.

'At the moment he went for you the knife was out and you were swinging it from waist height towards Mr Darn's chest, not just once but twice and you did that while knowing you were stabbing an unarmed man.

'Knowing you had struck Mr Darn with the knife you made your way back to the Deli.

'The same time Mr Darn returned to his car and sat in the driver's seat and there he remained bleeding to death.'

Peter Makepeace KC, defending, told the court Willis was a hard-working man with no previous criminal convictions.

Willis, of Alanville, Camperdown, North Tyneside, denied murder and having a bladed article but was convicted of both charges by a jury.

On Monday, he was sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum term of 18 years.

In an emotional victim statement, Mr Darn's father Michael said: 'I didn't just lose my son on that Wednesday when he was taken from us, I lost my best friend.

'When Andrew died a big part of me died with him and will never be filled.

'A father should never have to identify their son as I did on that Thursday. It's a memory that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

'I wasn't able to hold him and tell him how much I loved him and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

'He used to FaceTime my wife and I every Tuesday night so we could see the grandchildren before they went to bed.

'Every Thursday Andrew would say put the kettle on and say I will be there in five minutes.

'I'm not a religious person but when people say there was a reason Andrew was taken so early, I say they needed someone to fit garage doors, that's what Andrew would say.

'That was his sense of humour. Andrew was a larger than life character who was always winding us up and making us laugh.

'Andrew had so much to live for. We will tell the children about Andrew and remind them of the things he used to get up to.

'I know he will be next to me now giving me strength as he always did before.'