Police appeal to find ‘dangerous’ suspect wanted for torture killing

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Police have appealed for help finding a suspect wanted for the killing of a man who was tortured to death.

Thomas Campbell, 38, was attacked inside his home in Mossley, Greater Manchester, after being ambushed when he opened his front door last July.

John Belfield, 28, of Openshaw, Greater Manchester, is still wanted on suspicion of his murder.

On Wednesday at Bolton Crown Court, Mr Campbell's ex-wife Coleen Campbell, Stephen Cleworth, 38, and Reece Steven, 29, were jailed for a total of 62 years for their involvement in his death.

Mr Campbell’s body was found by a neighbour at his home on Riverside at around 10.40am on Saturday 3 July 2022.

He was fatally assaulted the previous night and died because of the injuries he sustained.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are still looking for Belfield in connection with the incident and have warned people not to approach him as he is "dangerous".

Police said he has links to Greater Manchester and Lancashire, but now believe that he has left the UK and could possibly be in Spain or Tenerife.

The conspiracy to murder Mr Campbell was meticulously thought out and used those closest to Thomas to track his every move, police said.

Those involved in his murder formulated a plan for the attack that focussed on his daily routine, which was known well by Campbell.

Police added she was recruited to share the information that they needed to carry out the attack.

She provided the exact locations of the whereabouts of Mr Campbell, through phone messages and calls to another member of the group.

Detectives found the location of a tracker placed on Thomas’ van.

Campbell told the Jury that she believed the plan was only to rob her ex-husband of his property - namely of two Rolex watches, whose whereabouts remain unknown to police at this time.

Campbell was jailed for 13 years and Cleworth was sentenced to 12 years after they were found guilty of manslaughter with conspiracy to rob.

Steven was found guilty of murder with conspiracy to rob and jailed for life with a minimum of 37 years.

Detective Inspector Mark Davis, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “Thomas suffered significant injuries over a period of time, and I must stress that we do not want members of the public to approach Belfield.

“If you become aware of his whereabouts, please do nothing more than dial 999, quoting Operation Ravensburg.

“He is thought to be a dangerous individual who must not be approached."

He warned members of the public and Belfield’s associates that assisting an offender was a criminal offence and anyone convicted of this faces up to 10 years imprisonment.