Joel Lorell Simpson, 16, ‘ambushed’ David Hunt, 45 and repeatedly stabbed him inside a house used for County Lines drug operations – the teenager has been named after a judge lifted reporting restrictions
A baby-faced 16-year-old killer who repeatedly stabbed a man to death has been named after a judge lifted reporting restrictions on him. Joel Lorell Simpson, also known as Lorell, “ambushed” Hull man David Hunt inside a house used for County Lines drug operations in June last year.
Mr Hunt, 45, had broken into the house to buy drugs and climbed through a bathroom window after nobody responded to his knock. He was then stabbed nine times before collapsing on a grassy area – and despite the efforts of an off-duty doctor, Mr Hunt succumbed to his injuries and died. Simpson delivered the fatal blows but was joined by his accomplice Dean Dawkins, with the pair “in it together” after having “lain in wait”.
Simpson, from Alder Street, Huddersfield, was given a life sentence with a minimum of 14 years in prison before being eligible for parole. He was seen grinning, smiling, and laughing as he was escorted to his cell. Dawkins, 20, from Cherry Nook Road, Huddersfield was meanwhile sentenced to 13 years at a young offenders’ institution, reports Hull Live.
Both Simpson and Dawkins pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Hunt on June 19 last year. While Simpson was found guilty of murder, Dawkins was acquitted of the charge but found guilty of manslaughter instead. They both confessed to two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Due to the severity of his crimes, the High Court judge, Mrs Justice Foster, later granted permission for Simpson’s identity to be revealed, stating in court: “This is an appropriate case where the restriction ought to be lifted.”
Mitigating, Richard Wright KC, said that while he disagreed with the decision to have Simpson’s identity made public, he acknowledged there was a “line of authority” that did not support the defence’s position. He said Simpson was a young man who had displayed typical immaturity, and was part of a culture that was “alien to right-thinking people” – but he also highlighted that there were two sides to the teenager, and noted his lack of previous convictions.
Alistair MacDonald KC, representing Dawkins, stated that his client demonstrated “immaturity and a lack of understanding of the gravity of the offending in which he was involved”. Dawkins claimed his drug-related crimes in Hull were limited to the day of Mr Hunt’s death and that he had not visited the city before this.
He had been convicted for two previous offences of knife possession and cannabis possession committed in December 2021 when he was 17-years-old. Dawkins, who previously studied business and law with plans to attend university, had been studying at a college in Manchester to distance himself from violence in Huddersfield.
Also part of the gang was Charlie Murray, a 35-year-old woman from Galpins Road, Thornton Heath, in the Croydon area of London. She denied two charges of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine, as well as assisting an offender, but was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Elon Williams, a 31-year-old from Rosemead Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was handed a nine-year jail sentence. Barry Leiper, a 48-year-old from Arundel Close, Hull, admitted to perverting the course of justice by removing a blood-stained knife wrapped in a towel from the house- and hiding it in a fence hidden by bushes. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
Jamie Hill KC, prosecuting, said Simpson, Dawkins and Murray were involved in a County Lines drug dealing operation in Hull, which was managed and supplied from London. Murray, based in Croydon, was among the leaders, with Dawkins and Simpson acting as dealers under her command, distributing heroin and crack cocaine from various Hull residences.
