Teenager jailed for life for stabbing Birmingham man to death in electric bike row

A teenager has been sentenced to life in prison after brutally stabbing a man to death in Birmingham following a row over a stolen electric bike.

Terrell Boyce, 18, repeatedly knifed Ronique Thomas in Kings Heath, on April 26 last year. Despite the efforts of paramedics the 33-year-old was confirmed dead at the scene near the junction with Queensbridge Road next to Highbury Park. 

A court heard as he lay dying, Mr Thomas managed to reveal the nickname of his attacker to members of the public as 'T1' - which led to Boyce's arrest. Boyce was found guilty of murder, robbery and possession of a bladed article following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.  

Today (Monday, March 18) he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years at the same court. Sentencing, Judge Francis Laird KC said "The background to these events is a dispute between you Terrell Boyce and Ronique Thomas over the possession of an electric bicycle." 

The judge said it was clear that Boyce "harboured a grudge" against Mr Thomas and after catching up with the victim he had stabbed him once to the back. Judge Laird added: "You pinned your victim to the ground and continued to stab him and as you did you were heard screaming where is it? This was a reference to the key to the bicycle." 

He said that Mr Thomas had died as a result of multiple stab wounds to his torso and also his left thigh. He added: "I am sure at the moment you carried out the attack you intended to kill Ronique Thomas.  It was a brutal attack with the use of a knife."

Another defendant Nathaniel Daly, 21, of Edgbaston, was found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and possession of a bladed article and cleared of murder. A third offender Kody Stephenson, 20, of Kings Heath, was also cleared of murder but found guilty of robbery.

The three thugs were all involved in the fatal attack which was the culmination of a dispute between Mr Thomas and Boyce over the ownership of an e-bike. A court heard Mr Thomas had his £4,600 bike stolen from outside a shop in the Highgate area of the city in October 2022.

In March of last year, he was with his partner when he recognised what he was sure was his bike being ridden by Boyce. When challenged, Boyce, of Stirchley, Birmingham, denied the bike belonged to Mr Thomas, but returned it to him anyway 

Soon after, Boyce made two visits to a pub where Mr Thomas' partner worked  demanding the bike be returned to him and making threats of retribution. By chance, Boyce, Daly and Stephenson were travelling in a taxi when they spotted the bike parked outside a shop on Kings Heath High Street.

Boyce instructed the driver to stop and all three got out of the vehicle. Boyce confronted Mr Thomas before brandishing a knife, chasing him on foot and  striking him several times with the blade. 

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. The three all fled while Mr Thomas "in the last moments of his life" told members of the public, who had come to his aid, who the knife man was. Daly was jailed for ten years while Stephenson was sentenced to six and a half years in a young offenders institution.

In a statement the victim's mother, Sophia Turton, said "On April 26 2023 our lives changed forever following the brutal killing of my son in Kings Heath High Street. As a mother I will never be the same person. 

"I have not only lost a child but a friend and the person I grew up with. It was a senseless and vicious attack. He was killed by Terrell Boyce in the most horrific and monstrous manner. He repeatedly stabbed him as he lay there dying. He was not a violent person. He was not a member of a gang."

Timothy Hannam, defending Boyce, said "He was an immature 17-year-old obsessed with an electric bike. It is also plain this was a chance encounter. It is plain there had been a dispute over a month before this incident concerning the possession of that bike and that dispute was the source of bad feeling between Boyce and Mr Thomas. Boyce maintains that this bike had been handed back following threats from Mr Thomas who he asserts was armed with a knife on that occasion." 

He said that Boyce's father had been a prominent gang member who had subjected him and his mother to violence and he had been placed into care until the age of 17. He said Boyce had been constantly exposed to gang culture and that his younger cousin had been shot in the back and paralysed by a member of a gang. 

Clare Davies, defending Daly, said "He was not the instigator of the robbery and was the last out of the vehicle. While he held a knife out, he was never close to Mr Thomas with that knife. he himself did not stab anyone and he is of good character."

Speaking following the verdict, Detective Inspector Jim Colclough, of West Midlands Police, 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 continues to endure his loss, I hope today’s verdicts will offer them some comfort that those responsible have been held to account.”