Judge hands out big sentences to Milton Keynes prison trio who viciously killed fellow inmate with self-made weapons

Stephen Boorman, aged 33, of HMP Belmarsh was sentenced to life, with a minimum of term of 35, to run concurrently to his current sentence. He will be 69-years-old before he is eligible to apply for parole.

James Brabbs, aged 32 of HMP Belmarsh was sentenced to life with combined minimum terms to be served of 39 years and 8 months, (a 10 year consecutive sentence added to the sentences he is currently serving). He will be 72 years-old before he is eligible to apply for parole.

Jibreel Raheem, aged 26, of HMP Wakefield was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years’ and nine months. He will be 55-years-old before he is eligible to apply for parole.

They were all sentenced at a hearing on Tuesday at the Old Bailey.

Boorman was convicted by unanimous jury following a trial which concluded on Monday.

Brabbs pleaded guilty during the trial and Raheem pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Their conviction is in relation to an incident which took place on 5 June 2018, at Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes.

At around 3pm, Ukrainian national, 49-year-old Taras Nykolyn, an inmate at the prison, was in the prison exercise yard. He was approached by Boorman, Brabbs and Raheem. Boorman stuck the victim, knocking him to the floor, then all three of the men viciously attacked him with self-made weapons.

The men then refused to leave the prison yard and prevented Mr Nykolyn from being given medical treatment. After around forty minutes prison officers were able to enter the exercise yard and remove Mr Nykolyn’s attackers.

Mr Nykolyn was provided with emergency medical treatment from members of South Central Ambulance Service, but sadly he was later pronounced dead on his way to hospital.

A post-mortem revealed the cause of death to be head and facial injuries.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Ailsa Kent, said: “Boorman, Brabbs and Raheem targeted their victim and attacked him with weapons they had made themselves, this was a gratuitous and vicious attack resulting in Mr Nykolyn’s death.

“What is all the more shocking in this case is that the men then refused to move out of the exercise yard and stopped Mr Nykolyn from receiving emergency medical treatment.

“Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Nykolyn. I would like to thank them for their support during our investigation.”