A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of stabbing someone to death with a fishing knife in Llanelli, Wales. James Smith, 36, received the sentence at Swansea Crown Court. He will serve a minimum of 28 years before he is eligible for parole.
The victim, 26-year-old Ashley Sarsero, was stabbed in the neck by Smith in September 2021. Smith had been invited into Sarsero’s home by his mother, Claire Richards. An argument broke out between the men, with Smith claiming that he had stabbed Sarsero in self-defence.
After stabbing Sarsero, Smith taunted him by saying “cry to your mammy” before fleeing. Steven Morgan, who had also been at the scene, was sentenced to four and a half years for helping Smith escape.
In court, Richards said that her son’s death had left her “broken in two”. Sarsero’s partner, Jade Jones, said she had been left suffering from nightmares and panic attacks as a result of the murder. The court also heard that Smith had been on bail for brandishing a knife in a Llanelli pub in June 2022 at the time of the murder, and had made threats to “slit someone’s throat” whilst claiming to be in possession of a gun.
Smith had previous convictions for offences including theft, assault and attempted robbery with a machete. Judge Daniel Williams said that it was a “tragedy beyond words” that Smith and Richards’ paths had crossed that night, and referred to Smith as a “violent coward with a knife and a short temper”. He said that unless his release was ordered by the parole board, Smith would serve the rest of his life in prison
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