News / Crime
Five guilty of helping murderer escape to US
Five people have been found guilty of helping a murderer escape from Bristol to the US after the stabbing of a teenage in Stokes Croft.
Luchiano Barnes, of Denbigh Street, stabbed 19-year-old Nicholas Robinson in the stairwell of his flat on Jamaica Street on March 5, 2014, in a revenge attack over a deal to buy a gun which went wrong.
Robinson, a City of Bristol College student, stumbled out of his home and died on Lower Gay Street before paramedics could reach him.
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A group of five people, including Barnes’ mother and father, were convicted of helping him fly to New York via London just days after the attack.
Patrick Barnes, 51, of Holly Lodge Road, Speedwell, Rachel Lewis, 45, of Denbigh Street, Bristol, Frederica Critchlow, 49, of Windmill Hill, Enfield, London, Junior Hutchinson, 21, of Brixham Road, Bristol, and Kirk Barclay, 24, of Victoria Street, Bristol have all been convicted of assisting an offender.
“Each of these people played a pivotal role in helping Luchiano Barnes leave the country before he could be arrested for Nicholas’ murder,” chief inspector Andy Bevan said.
After ambushing and killing Nicholas, Barnes initially enlisted the help of his friends Junior Hutchinson and Kirk Barclay to aid with his escape plan.
Barnes travelled with Hutchinson to London the following day, where they stayed at the home of Hutchinson’s mother Frederica Critchlow.
Barnes’ mother Rachel Lewis was in regular phone contact with Critchlow and his father Patrick Barnes made a payment of £450 into Critchlow’s bank account, which Critchlow used buy a flight to New York before driving the murderer to Heathrow Airport the following day.
Bevan said police in Bristol “worked tirelessly” to encourage Barnes to fly home on his own accord, working with the National Crime Agency and the FBI in the meantime.
Barnes flew back to the UK on April 4 and was arrested at Heathrow Airport.
He was jailed for at least 23 years after a trial at Bristol Crown Court in May.
Bevan said: “Assisting an offender is an extremely serious offence and it was our case that each of these people knew what they were doing when they helped Luchiano Barnes evade arrest.
“I hope these convictions bring some form of comfort to Nicholas’ family who’ve had to endure a long wait for justice to be done.
“They’ve shown nothing but dignity and immense bravery throughout the investigation and resulting court proceedings and I want to offer them my heartfelt thanks for all the support they’ve given to me and my team despite having to come to terms with their own grief.”
The five convicted will be sentenced at a later date.