A vicious killer who went straight to bed after murdering his jealous love rival has been jailed for 21 years. Thomas Barton was stabbed m...
A vicious killer who went straight to bed after murdering his jealous love rival has been jailed for 21 years.
Thomas Barton was stabbed multiple times by Cameron Baker, after the victim confronted him for holding hands with his ex.
The 30-year-old restaurant worker had finished a shift in Ryde, Isle of Wight the evening before, when he bumped into Baker holding hands with his ex Sammi Creed.
Barton made a number ‘angry and moody’ calls to Ms Creed, before deciding to confront Baker, who threw boiling water over him and knifed him in an attack.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services and members of the public, dad-of-one died from multiple injuries at the scene – as Baker went to bed.
The 28-year-old was convicted of murder after a trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, and was jailed for 21 years.
Sentencing him, Mrs Justice Cockerill said: ‘When police arrived they found Tommy Barton fatally injured, stabbed to the heart.
‘You decided on the longest knife in the knife block and kettle – you decided on them as weapons.
‘Tommy launched himself out of the car towards you and you deposited the kettle out onto him and stabbed him with a 15cm wound into the chest through the lung and into his heart.
‘You killed Tommy Barton – that wound was unsurvivable.’
Prosecutor Christopher Quinlan had told jurors Mr Barton was driven to the address by his 84 year old father, Peter, who ‘unwittingly took him to the place he was killed’.
‘During the vicious attack – which was as swift as it was brutal – he was stabbed repeatedly, he staggered away and then collapsed,’ he said.
‘Cameron Baker returned to [his home] and went to bed,’ he added.
The court heard Baker ‘had been asleep’ and was awoken by police, who he told to ‘chill out’.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Barton’s mother, Kate, said she was ‘haunted’ by the loss of her ‘caring, kind and thoughtful’ son.
‘He loved his life, loved his daughter and loved his family and his dog,’ she said.
‘The pain, heartbreak, the loss, the constant reminders we will never see him again – I am overwhelmed with grief most days and stay awake for hours most nights.
‘I’m now existing but not living – it has destroyed me. His daughter has lost him forever. She now has nightmares and restless sleep. How much will she remember?’
His sister, Alexandra, said: ‘I will not try and describe the effect it has had on [his daughter].
‘Love and laughs have been stolen from her for the rest of her life in a crime driven by ego and insecurity.’
Sentencing Baker, Mrs Justice Cockerill said: ‘I have heard the extremely moving victim personal statements of the family.
‘It is clear that the person they knew and loved was a warm, loving and vibrant person.’
She said Baker’s actions had taken away his daughter’s ‘carefree joy’ and left her ‘despairing of life’ after the loss of her father.
She added: ‘For the murder of Tommy Barton you are sentenced to life in prison for a term of 21 years.’
The judge thanked the efforts of members of the public for ‘acting with great presence of mind’ in their attempts to save Mr Barton’s life.
