A grief-stricken dad has told a court of the moment he received a call from the woman who stabbed his son to death.
Rees Howarth, 28, was killed by his partner Katie Yeomans following a scuffle outside her home in Hyde in April this year, after he became 'jealous of another man.'
Yeomans, also 28, plunged a kitchen knife into his chest outside. Manchester Crown Court heard there had been a history of Mr Howarth being 'abusive' and 'violent' towards Yeomans. She has since pleaded to guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of loss of control.
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At a sentencing hearing on Wednesday (November 8), Yeomans, of Thorsby Avenue, was jailed for five years and three months. Taking to the witness box, Gary Howarth, the grieving father of Rees, told a packed out courtroom of the moment Yeomans called him to tell him his son had been attacked.
"Katie rang me when Rees had been stabbed. When I first got the call that day, I knew there was something wrong, there was something in her voice and what she was saying," he said.
"She told me he had been stabbed - I didn’t know how bad his injury was. She claimed he arrived at her house and had been stabbed, that he told her he loved her and then collapsed in her front doorway. She told me to come to the house and get him.
"I told her: 'If he is hurt, you need to ring an ambulance.' We live 30 minutes away, and I knew if he was unconscious he needed to get help straight away."
He said he heard the police on the other end of the phone at her door, and knew something ‘really bad had happened’. "I was not prepared for how bad," he said.
Police insisted Yeomans put the phone down and the family were left ‘thinking the worst.' Mr Howarth said the family made frantic calls to local hospitals, thinking the arrival of the police would mean he was on his way to get medical treatment. "Nobody could give us any information," he said.
Gary said he was left with unanswered questions about whether he could have made a difference if he was able to get to the house earlier. "I know logically I would not have been there before the ambulance, but that moment keeps replaying in my mind," his voice broke.
"I worry about the impact this will have on his sister. She gets upset, especially when she sees us upset. She feels she will always be seen as the girl who’s brother was murdered."
Commenting on the impact of knife crime, he said: "I feel like everything we see and hear in the media is about knives and stabbings. Even if those we speak to make a flippant comment about knives or crime, it’s still painful. It feels too raw and close to home."
He said that since Rees’ death, he is a lot quieter than he used to be. At work, he heard his colleagues talk about their jobs and day-to-day lives and said he is left thinking: "Is that all you’ve got to complain about?"
His voice caught in his throat as he said that whilst his colleagues talk of their families, he can only speak of Rees in the past tense.
"Since it happened, I just get down, it just comes over me. I get low in mood and it takes me all day to snap out of it. I just get overwhelmed and go into myself," he read.
"As time goes by I still can’t believe it’s real but I know I’ve got to. I went to visit Rees in the mortuary. Seeing him lying there made it real."
He spoke of the split moment he thought he saw Rees in the street, when it was just a ‘young lad who looked a bit like him’, and said every time the phone rings, he thinks it will be Rees.
"I’m never going to see him again or hear his voice. It’s just so painful," Gary uttered, after taking a moment.
He said that Rees has been diagnosed with ADHD and was ‘very energetic’. Before the stabbing, though, he seemed to be maturing, he said.
Speaking of a somewhat normal moment, he said: "Before he was killed he asked me to go round to help put a TV up on the wall in Katie’s house. I was surprised and pleased as it seemed he was settling down and showing pride in his home.
"I always said he would be more mature in his 30s. But he will never reach or see his 30s. He will never get to reach his full potential."
Of his relationship with Katie, he said he regretted that he ‘couldn’t break the cycle’ of going back to her. "He knew the relationship wasn’t right. We told him over and over again to stay away but he couldn’t," Mr Howarth said.
"We feel like our lives are stuck in limbo waiting for answers. We want Katie to tell the truth. I can’t get my head around the fact we will never see him again. Katie has caused a lot of pain and heartache."
After sentencing, in a tribute released by Greater Manchester Police, his family said that Rees was an ‘active and outgoing man, who was funny and loving’. "He had a heart of gold and was caring and kind-hearted. He was a larger-than-life character who will be sadly missed by all who loved him," it read.
Duncan Thorpe of GMP’s Major Incident Support Unit said: "Whatever sentence is imposed it will not be enough and it will sadly not bring Rees back. Of course, my thoughts are with Rees family and his loved ones, no parent, child, or friend should have their loved one taken away by someone else in this manner."
Yeomans, of Thorsby Avenue, Hyde, will serve two thirds of her sentence in prison before being released on licence.
