Ryan Burton’s killers were “like a pack of hounds”

“This pain and knowledge of how Ryan died will follow me wherever I go – I have no place of safety, nowhere I can feel comfort” - these are the heartbreaking words of a mother haunted by grief.

Today (Monday, December 22), those responsible for the murder of Ryan Burton, who died after being assaulted in Kettering in January, were sentenced for their part in his death.

In her victim impact statement, Ryan’s mum Diane Burton said that she “struggled to accept how a group of human beings can act the way those boys did. They were like a pack of hounds. Ryan had no chance to defend himself.”

As part of the sentencing hearing, Diane’s statement was read out in court. In it she said that seeing Ryan’s “horrendous injuries” will “haunt me forever” and she could not understand “how anyone could do such a violent thing to another human being.”

Ryan was seriously assaulted in Spring Rise Park on Kettering’s Highfield Estate shortly before 7pm on Friday, January 10. For six days, Diane stayed at his bedside hoping and praying that he would recover.

However, on January 16, Ryan sadly died at University Hospital Coventry after he contracted sepsis due to the severity of his injuries. Over six days he had multiple operations and placed in an induced coma.

Diane’s statement continued: “I sat at his side for days trying to take it all in, listening and watching the medical staff treating him…I was told that Ryan was deteriorating. I had to say my goodbyes to my son. Ryan couldn’t say goodbye to me – he never regained consciousness.

“I’ll never know what he felt or what he heard in those final hours of his life. I heard his first breath in this world and watched his last breath leave. When his chest stopped rising and falling that night, a part of me died.

“Now, my only thoughts are of him in pain screaming at a stranger’s door telling them that he was going to die.”

Diane went on to explain how she felt overwhelmed by the police investigation and court case as she “struggled to listen to all the information” as it “was so painful to hear” as she tried to “put a brave face on for my family. I try to be the strong one as the head of the family but in truth I feel like I am falling apart.”

However, even in her darkest hour, Diane acknowledged that it was not just her family which has been impacted by Ryan’s murder.

The statement continued: “It was never a fair fight. They had no intention to leave that park that night until they had killed Ryan. They have destroyed so many families, not just ours.

“My grandchildren no longer have their uncle; my sons no longer have their brother, and I have lost my son, but these boys have also destroyed their own families.

“Their parents can no longer freely see their children, their girlfriends have lost their futures, and their families will now have to navigate a new life where prison visits become their normal.

“But they will be free one day. They can eventually return to some sort of normality. We never will. Ryan will never come back, and his final moments of terror will always play over in my mind…They have taken my son. I had to bury my child. No parent should ever have to do that.”

Keiton Underwood, aged 20, of Bridge Street, Desborough, and Ace Hill, aged 19, of Minden Close, Corby, were today sentenced to life imprisonment.

They will serve a minimum of 24 years and 21 years respectively, before they are eligible for parole. After release, they will remain on licence for the rest of their lives.

Cameron Williams-Ferguson, aged 24, of High Street, Kettering, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for Ryan’s manslaughter, while Kyle Derek McSkimming, aged 23, of Pen Green Lane, Corby, was handed seven years and 10 months imprisonment for the same offence.

Connor White, aged 25, of Spencer Street, Rothwell, was jailed for 43 months for a separate robbery that he committed along with Underwood.

While a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, was given a six-month youth referral order for possession of an offensive weapon at a previous hearing.

For more information or support regarding knife crime visit www.northants.police.uk/knifecrime.