Birmingham teenager found guilty of Kings Heath murder after electric bike dispute

A teenager has been found guilty of the fatal stabbing and robbery of a man in Kings Heath in April last year. 

Terrell Boyce, aged 18, from Hazellwell Street, Stirchley, Birmingham was found guilty of murder at Birmingham Crown Court today (January 25). He was additionally found guilty of robbery and possession of a bladed article.

Nathaniel Daly, aged 21 from Benmore Avenue in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and Kody Stephenson, aged 20 from Stetchford, also stood trial for the offence. Daly was found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and possession of a bladed article while Stephenson was found guilty of robbery.

The three were involved in the fatal knife attack on Ronique Thomas, 33, in Kings Heath in the early hours of Wednesday 26 April last year. The stabbing, which was the culmination of a dispute between Mr Thomas and Boyce over the ownership of an electric bike, occurred near the junction with Queensbridge Road just before 2.30am.

Several months before in October 2022, Mr Thomas, who lived in Edgbaston, had his electric bike stolen outside a shop in nearby Highgate. Later, in March of last year, he was with his partner in Highgate when he recognised what he was sure was his bike being ridden by Boyce.  

When challenged, Boyce denied the bike belonged to Mr Thomas, but returned it to him nevertheless. Shortly afterwards, Boyce made two visits to the workplace of Mr Thomas’s partner, a pub in Birmingham, demanding the bike be returned to him and making threats of retribution. By chance, Boyce, Daly and Stephenson were travelling in a taxi to Stephen’s Albert Road flat when, on their way through King’s Heath, they spotted the bike parked outside a shop on the High Street. 

Boyce instructed the driver to stop and all three got out of the vehicle. Boyce confronted Mr Thomas before brandishing a knife and chasing him on foot, striking him several times. Daly, who was also carrying a knife, joined in the chase while Stephenson grabbed the bike from outside the shop. After the attack, the three men then made off. 

Police were called to the location but sadly, despite the efforts of ambulance staff who also attended, Mr Thomas succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene. Police launched a murder investigation and through a trawl of CCTV footage, pieced together the attack and its aftermath. 

Following the fatal stabbing, the three went to Stephenson’s Albert Road flat as planned. From there Boyce, Daly and Stephenson took a taxi to an address on Hollybank Road where a police helicopter, in the area responding to the stabbing, filmed the men discarding a bag before entering a block of flats. Officers retrieved the bag, which contained a knife. When forensically tested, the knife was found to have traces of Mr Thomas’s blood on it and further analysis linked both the weapon and the bag to Boyce and Stephenson.

Police arrested Daly on 27 April and Boyce, who had fled to Scunthorpe, was arrested the following day. Two weeks later, after the force launched a public appeal to identify the third suspect, Stephenson handed himself into custody. 

What has West Midlands Police said?

Detective Inspector Jim Colclough from the homicide investigations team, said: “This was a brutal attack and opportunistic robbery, which stemmed from Terrell Boyce’s promise to seek retribution against Mr Thomas.

“Tragically the opportunity presented itself to them by a chance meeting leading to Ronique Thomas having his life taken from him.

"While his family continue to endure his loss, I hope today’s verdicts will offer them some comfort that those responsible have been held to account.” 

The three men will be sentenced at a later date.