A Norwich man has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 26 years, after an attempt to steal cannabis plants led to a 33-year-old being stabbed to death.
Rakeem Leandre, 26, formerly of Brewers Court, Norwich, accompanied three other men to steal drugs during a night-time raid at a house in Northampton.
Christopher Allbury-Burridge was at home at the time and was stabbed during the incident in the Kingsley area of the town, in the early hours of December 11 2020.
He died from a stab wound to the chest.
Leandre, Calum Farquhar, 24, and Jordan Parker, 25, were each sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 26 years at Northampton Crown Court on Monday (November 29) after having been found guilty of murder.
Joel Cyrus, 26, also from Leyton, was jailed for 14 years after he was convicted of manslaughter.
Leandre, Farquhar and Parker were also convicted of conspiracy to rob and possession of an offensive weapon while Cyrus was convicted of conspiracy to rob but found not guilty of possession of an offensive weapon.
Sentencing the defendants, Judge Adrienne Lucking said: "You each leant yourselves to a violent robbery involving the use of a knife."
Judge Lucking added that after Mr Allbury-Burridge was fatally stabbed the defendants "all fled the scene concerned only for yourselves".
After being convicted of murder in September, people who used to live close to Leandre in Brewers Court, Norwich described how he left them in fear for their safety.
In a trial which began in August this year, the jury heard how the quartet travelled from London in two cars in order to target Mr Allbury-Burridge’s home, after making a number of reconnaissance trips in preparation.
When they arrived, the group approached the house and Parker began to break in via the back door, smashing the glass and trying to climb in while holding a large knife.
The noise alerted Mr Allbury-Burridge, who was in his living room after returning from an evening socialising with family.
He ran into the kitchen but suffered a single stab wound to the chest before the group fled, leaving him to bleed to death on the floor.
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