The 8 key clues that nailed Jon-Jo Highton's killers

On August 23, 2014, young dad Jon-Jo Highton finished his pint, had a last game of pool, and set off to make the five minute walk home from his local pub.

But as he walked in St Stephen's Road, Preston, a gang armed with knives, an axe, a Samurai sword and a golf club, jumped from two cars and launched a brutal attack on the 18-year-old. Jon-Jo, who was alone, suffered numerous injuries, including a gaping wound to his face and neck that no-one could have survived.

READ MORE: The young dad murdered in a savage street attack for a crime he didn't commit

Within minutes, on-call Det Supt Eddie Thistlethwaite, from Lancashire Police received a call a young man had been murdered in the street. He made his way to St Stephen's Road and began the process of tracking down the killers.

When he arrived, the detective said he was "confronted with the shock of the most horrific injuries I have seen in my 30 years in the police". In the days, weeks and months that followed, he and a team of officers pieced together clues that brought eight men to justice for their roles in the killing.

Speaking to former Scotland Yard detective Steve Keogh on Secrets of a Murder Detective, aired on True Crime on Wednesday June 19, Det Supt Thistlethwaite set out how they set about solving one of the most shocking murders to have happened in Lancashire.

A key witness

At the scene, a key witness in St Stephen's Road told police he heard a screech and saw two cars come round the corner. Seven to ten masked men jumped from the vehicles and cornered Jon-Jo between the cars.

The first car was a people carrier, which he thought was a Renault Scenic and the other was definitely a Vauxhall Vectra. The witness had written four digits KGE4 from the Vectra's registration in dust on his car windscreen.

Warning

Before the cars left the scene, one of the attackers looked cooly at the witness, looked down at his registration plate, and nodded. Det Supt Thistlethwaite said: "He is saying, I know you. I know this car. I thought that was hugely significant. What sort of a person, at a time like that when adrenaline must be pouring throught your body, has the self control to do that? I was very worried about that person."

The scene

A broken Samurai sword blade was found at the scene. A meter away was a broken Dunlop golf club and a lock knife and brick were also found within the crime scene area. These weapons were taken for analysis.

ANPR

Automatic Number Plate Recognition allows police to identify which vehicles have been in an area at a given time. Half an hour before the attack, the only car with the registration KGE4, was registered to Owen Whitesmith, a member of a rival gang. Investigators looked into Whitesmith and learned that the night before there had been an incident at his house in which a woman was headbutted. One of the people involved was named as being a close friend of Jon-Jo's. Police formed a hypothesis the killing was a revenge attack and set up a ring of steel to try and stop Whitesmith's car. They needed to arrest him.

Whitesmith's house

In his bedroom was documentation linking him to the Vectra, but the car was not in the area. In his bed was a broken phone and SIM card. When they were discovered, Whitesmith, who was handcuffed to the bed, slumped down.

Phone evidence

Messages on phone showed Whitesmith was furious about the incident the previous night. He messaged Arron Graham, saying:

• 'U gna cme do smethin wiv me 2day cuz al the boys r p**sy sme 1 trYied cmeing threw my door last night'

• 'Wat soldiers we got'

• 'Pick me up bro'

Graham's responses led Det Supt Thistlethwaite to form the hypothesis that Whitesmith instigated the attack and Graham was the main protagonist.

Vehicles stopped

Whitesmith's Vauxhall Vectra pinged cameras near Blackburn. It was in company with a Citroen Saxo. The Saxo was circulated as missing and a the following day was involved in a 'manic' pursuit. Officers boxed the car in and found Craig Walton, nicknamed Potter, at the wheel, with Arron Graham, nicknamed Scottish, in the passenger seat. Walton complied with his arrest but Graham's reaction, kicking, spitting and hitting out at officers, led Det Supt Thistlethwaite to suspect he was 'strange person' who had intimidated the witness at the scene.

The missing Vectra is found by dog walkers

Police went public on the missing Vectra and it was found in Sunnyhurst Woods, Blackburn. Attempts had been made to burn it out but the fire had not taken. In the footwell was the clasp of a Samurai sword, with Whitesmith's DNA on it. It was enought to charge Whitesmith with murder.

Sprite bottle

Joshua Bore's DNA was recovered from a Sprite bottle found in the back of the car. The Vectra was previously owned by Bore's brother, who sold cars from a patch of rough ground on the outskirts of Preston. CCTV from passing buses showed the Vectra was on the site until 9:30pm on the night of the murder, leading detectives to believe the bottle - and Bore - had been in the car after 9:30pm on August 23.

The people carrier is identified

CCTV images of the second vehicle were taken to a local Renault dealership, who said it was not a Scenic, but a Vauxhall Meriva. ANPR inquiries showed the only Meriva in the area on the night of the murder belonged to Minhaj Musa.

Surveillance was put on the Meriva. Within 20 minutes Musa approached the behicle, looked under it, around it and up and dowmn the street before opening the boot. As he reached into teh boot, to retrieve a golf club head cover, matching the club found at the scene, officers arrested him at the scene of the crime. They said the way Musa approached the car showed a guilty conscience.

A phone call links the two vehicles

Phone analuysis showed Zaheed Patel had phoned Owen Whitesmith less than two minutes before the 999 call was made to the police about Jon-Jo's murder. The pair were occasional contact about drugs but the call in such close proximity to the murder was suspicious. Police believed Patel had been directing the others to where Jon-Jo was.

Intelligence

Zaheed Patel and Mohammed Sabbah Dal had been arrested on intelligence. The low-level cannabis dealers were linked to the Vauxhall Meriva and were often driven around by Musa. Steven Walton was also arrested on intelligence which linked him to the Vectra.

Joint enterprise

All eight were charged with murder by joint enterprise. Three were arrested for assisting an offender in connection with providing a false alibi for Joshua Bore, who claimed to have been on a fishing trip at the time of the murder.

Bore spills all

In court, all five occupants of the Vectra admitted being in the car but said they had not seen any weapons. The Bore admitted under cross examination that Craig Walton was driving the vehicle. He said Graham had knives and was waving them around and joking after the killing. He said Steven Walton had an axe. But he said he did not have any weapons and was not part of a joint enterprise.

From the dock, Arron Graham shouted: "Five of us go to a knife fight and one doesn't take a knife. that doesn't make sense." A sickening fight broke out in court. Zaheed Patel admitted he had a golf club and Mohammed Sabbah Dal said he had been at the scene and thrown a brick.

The jury returns its verdicts

After three days deliberation Whitesmith, Graham, Walton and Walton were found guilty of murder. The next day the jury found Patel guilty of murder. Given a majority verdict they then found Bore guilty of murder and three of assisting an offender. Dal and Musa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause GBH.

Sentences

Graham, Whitesmith, Walton, Walton, Bore and Patel were given life sentences, with minimum tariffs ranging from 21 years to 29 years.

Jon-Jo's legacy

Jon-Jo's brother Byron set up a foundation in his name, to educate young people about the dangers of gangs and knife crime. Using the tragedy of his brother's death, he gives a hard hitting presentation to thousands of youngsters each year. He stages interventions and takes knives off the streets.

For more information about the work Byron does to prevent knife crime, visit theJJeffect.org