Teen Killer Jailed for Life Over Brutal Street Stabbing of Father-of-Three

An 18-year-old from County Durham has been handed a life sentence for the fatal stabbing of a young father-of-three during a street confrontation.

Jack Lawson, from Willington, was convicted of murdering 28-year-old Craig Yorke after a seven-week trial at Teesside Crown Court. He will serve a minimum of 18 years in custody, though because he was 17 at the time of the attack, he will begin his term in youth detention.

The court heard that Yorke was stabbed three times in the early hours of 14 December 2023, on Eldon Lane near Bishop Auckland. Despite emergency efforts, he died shortly after the attack.

Justice Soole told the court that Lawson had not gone to the scene intending to kill Yorke but to engage in a “one-on-one fist fight” with another man. However, CCTV footage and a video found on Lawson’s phone revealed that he drove to the scene with a knife resting on his lap, indicating clear intent to cause serious harm.

“The intent was to inflict serious injury, not to kill,” the judge said, noting the “terrible consequences” of Lawson’s actions.

Lawson’s sentence — detention at His Majesty’s pleasure, the mandatory life term for youths convicted of murder — took into account his age, lack of prior convictions, and what the judge described as “genuine remorse,” particularly for the pain caused to Yorke’s three children.

After spending 295 days on remand, Lawson will serve 17 years and 70 days before being eligible for parole.

Yorke’s grieving family described him as a man with a “heart of gold” who “always put others before himself.” They said life since his death had been “incredibly painful,” adding that their loss was “something words could never express.”