Gucci bag murder: ‘Why are shops selling 15-inch machetes?’

As Ryan O’Connor walked home with her new Gucci bag, she had no idea that she had only minutes to live.

He was crossing the Aberthaw Road roundabout in Alway, Newport, when two men brandishing hunting knives stabbed him in the heart and lungs.

The 26-year-old broke his hand during the attack, in which witnesses saw his assailants kick him before they fled back to their car.

He did not know his killers, but he was the random victim of a savage attack involving a group of men, all known to the police.

Now there have been calls for those responsible for the illegal sale of knives to be held accountable.

Nick Corrigan, director of Media Academy Cymru, which runs the Braver Choices gun prevention programme, said: “The law does not allow children to buy knives, but it is clear that young entrepreneurs are using other people’s identification documents to get knives.

“What we need to ask retailers is, ‘Why are you selling 15-inch machetes?’

“What’s that going to do for anyone, legal or not?”

Only 1% of children carry knives in the mistaken belief that it makes them safer, he said, but those who did were 63% more likely to be stabbed.

“What we need to do as legislation, as a country, particularly in Wales, is look at the establishments that are selling those knives and to whom they are selling them and make sure they are responsible for the sales,” Corrigan said.

“Simply showing identification that might not be theirs is not enough.”

Two men were found guilty of murdering Mr O’Connor after a trial at Newport Crown Court.

Known to many as Apple, he was stabbed five times and bled to death on the pavement in June last year.

Joseph Jeremy, 18, of no fixed address, and Lewis Aquilina, 20, of Riverside, Cardiff, were found guilty of the murder and robbery of Mr O’Connor.

Kyle Raisis, 18, from Canton, Cardiff, was found guilty of manslaughter and robbery, while Ethan Strickland, 19, from Caerau, Cardiff, was found guilty of robbery.

Elliot Fiteni, 20, of no fixed address, was acquitted of murder, manslaughter and robbery.

At the time of the attack, Jeremy was fleeing a secure accommodation where he was being held after stabbing a 17-year-old.

He had continued to buy knives at that place using his father’s driver’s license.

Ethan Strickland’s brother Lee was one of three convicted of the homophobic murder of Cardiff doctor Gary Jenkins in the city’s Bute Park.

The well-liked and respected psychiatrist was repeatedly kicked and suffered catastrophic brain injuries.

The knives used in the assault came from a Cornish shop for so-called “preppers”. These are survivors preparing for the end of civilization.

The store said it no longer sells knives of the type used in Mr. O’Connor’s murder.

The BBC interviewed owner Linton Miles in 2015, asking if he was concerned that the knives for sale could be used to commit crimes.

“I would have thought that if someone was [going to do that] they’re going to buy a £2.99 kitchen knife or grab something from your kitchen,” he said.

Newport Crown Court was told that Mr O’Connor’s killers traveled from Cardiff to Newport in a stolen Ford Fiesta ST on the night of June 10 last year carrying hunting knives, gloves and balaclavas, looking for of someone to rob.

Although witnesses saw only two men attack O’Connor, the prosecution said all five were equally responsible because they knew the intent of the trip was to rob someone and cause serious harm.

Mr. O’Connor was walking home from visiting his brother Daniel and his girlfriend when he was killed.

Daniel said that his brother wanted to show them the Gucci bag he had bought that day.

As he crossed the roundabout, witnesses saw two men get out of his car.

The court heard one yell at him to “come here.”

Dressed in dark clothing and gloves, they ran towards Mr. O’Connor with their knives, and his victim tripped and fell while trying to escape.

He was stabbed in the heart and lungs and broke his hand while trying to fend off his attackers.

Witnesses said he was kicked before the men ran back to the car, taking the bag with them. The attack lasted 30 seconds.

Joanna Verallo, whose house overlooks the roundabout, told police the five walked slowly past O’Connor, laughing as she lay dying, and she yelled at them, calling them “disgusting.”

Joseph Jeremy, 17 at the time, was the youngest of the group and his fellow defendants said he was “bubbly with emotion” after the stabbing, saying, “I assaulted him.”

He already had felony convictions before Ryan O’Connor was killed and admitted firing a replica gun in a racially aggravated assault in Penarth in August 2020, when he received a warrant of supervision.

In November of the same year, he stabbed a 17-year-old Cardiff boy in the shoulder and stomach with what was described as a “fierce looking knife”.

He later posed with the sword on Snapchat.

The court heard that Jeremy bought knives using his father’s driver’s license as identification; he was too young to buy them himself.

He was staying at the home of fellow defendant and car thief Strickland.

The couple spent hours making videos with their knives, including showing off a 15-inch (38cm) hunting knife in a Cardiff park.

Escaping after the attack on Mr O’Connor, the group returned to Cardiff and a CCTV camera at a petrol station caught Jeremy putting 10 pounds of petrol into the car.

Witnesses gave police a description of the car, and officers saw it speeding on the city’s West Avenue.

There was then a high-speed chase on a busy A48 and through the streets of Pentwyn before police blew out the tires with a stinger.

The car then crashed into a barrier, hemmed in by two police vehicles, and the five ran out of the car, leaving the knives behind.

Jeremy livestreamed his arrest on social media.

During a recorded prison phone call while Jeremy was on remand, his father asked him to think about how Mr. O’Connor’s family felt.

He replied, “I don’t give a fuck. That’s why I need to get my head checked out ASAP.”

Traces of Mr. O’Connor’s blood were found on Aquilina’s slipper and pants.

He claimed that he was trying to kick the blade out of Jeremy’s hand and described Mr O’Connor in court as “that poor boy”.

He drove the car to Newport after stealing it from a home in Usk in the early hours of the morning with fellow defendant Elliot Fiteni, who was acquitted of murder, manslaughter and robbery.

Aquilina told the court that he was “a car thief but not a murderer.”

The 20-year-old tried to strangle the policeman who stopped him.

In a statement, PC Ben Thomas said Aquilina had his neck in a “vise grip” that left him gasping for breath.

Eventually restrained and arrested on suspicion of murder, he sobbed and told police, “It wasn’t me,” but a witness said he saw Mr O’Connor being kicked as he fought for his life.

With his balaclava still on his head, Strickland, 19, was sobbing as armed police arrested him, claiming he knew nothing about the murder.

“I was literally picked up 10 minutes ago,” he told them.

In fact, he was behind the wheel of the stolen Fiesta ST when he was spotted speeding by traffic police in Cardiff.

Strickland grew up around crime. His older brother Lee, a serial burglar and car thief, was one of three convicted in the July 2021 Bute Park murder of Dr. Gary Jenkins.

Raisis, 18, sat in the back seat of the car as he left the scene of Mr. O’Connor’s murder.

The court heard that he rummaged through the bag where he found less than £40.

Raisis was the first to be arrested and police cameras showed him tripping and falling as he tried to escape from officers.

Also obsessed with knives, he, along with Strickland, decided not to testify in court.

Her attorney told the jury that Raisis, dressed in a light-colored top and shorts, was “not dressed for chaos.”

At the time of his death, Mr O’Connor’s family said: “He has left us too soon, and he will be greatly missed by all.

“He was loved by his family and the local community.”

Mr. O’Connor’s brother, Johnny, dubbed his brother “a regular boy through and through”.

He said: “I’m still in shock, this doesn’t feel real. None of this.”

“My brother, he was agitated, but he had a heart of gold.”

His killers will be sentenced in the coming weeks.