Three men have been jailed for a total of 56 years for the murder of a Heywood teenager
17-year-old Callum Riley was found with a deep stab wound to it leg in a garden at Atholl Drive in August 2022,
A friend of Callum was also found seriously injured with a stab wound to his stomach but survived after receiving emergency medical treatment.
Tony Adams aged 25 of Minshull New Road, Crewe was convicted of murder and assault and pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage. He has been jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 24 years years.
Dale Heywood aged 26 of Windermere Road, Middleton was convicted of murder, assault, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage and has been jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 24 years.
Niall Conaghan aged 18 of Minshull New Road, Crewe was convicted of murder, assault and criminal damage and pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon and has been jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 8 years.
A blood trail led police to Tony Adams’ house on Atholl Drive. It soon became apparent that the two victims had been stabbed in the doorway of the house.
Adams had been seeking to recover a drug debt from Callum for a number of months.
In early 2022, Adams and four other men had forced their way into Callum’s house where he lived with his mother and brother. Callum was not home at the time, but the five men threatened his family in an attempt to intimidate him and enforce the debt.
Matters came to a head in September 2022 when Adams made threats to another of Callum’s friends after allegedly hearing rumours the friend was going to ‘grass’ about the location of his stash of drugs.
Following this, Adams gathered a group of men and went to Callum’s house where they smashed the front windows with a baseball bat. Callum was not at home at the time, although his mother, who is suffering from a serious illness, discovered the damage.
Callum was told of the damage and went to Adams’ house with a friend to confront him about the damage he had caused.
Adams, Dale Heywood and Niall Conaghan had armed themselves with weapons including a baseball bat and a knife, and were lying in wait for the pair, launching an attack within seconds of them entering his garden.
The pair managed to run from the address and were chased up Atholl Drive. Callum only made it a short distance before succumbing to his injuries. He was found unresponsive later that morning in a garden by members of the public.
Adams initially claimed to police that he had acted in self-defence. However, he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of assault and murder.
Heywood was reported missing by his father after the incident but was quickly located in Burnley by police on 18th September 2022 and arrested on suspicion of murder. During his arrest, he said: “I am really, really, really, really sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was self-defence; it was self-defence.”
In addition to the trio of sentencings, a 35-year-old female was convicted of assisting an offender and has received a sentence of 9 months suspended for 18 months.
Earlier, at a separate hearing at Manchester Crown Court in April, three other men were sentenced for their involvement. A 25-year-old man pleaded guilty to affray and was sentenced to a community order.
Two men aged 20 and 21 pleaded guilty to criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon and were both sentenced to detention for a period of 6 months, suspended for 12 months.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Louise Edwards of GMP’s Major Investigations Team said: “Today is the culmination of an extensive investigation into the murder of Callum.
“Firstly, I want to be clear that this was not a case of self-defence. Tony Adams set in motion a chain of violent events where he planned and welcomed a confrontation with a teenager.
“Adams, Dale Heywood and Niall Conaghan were armed with weapons including a knife and a baseball bat in the expectation of violence they had planned for and hoped would start.
“They created a situation in which Callum would come to Atholl Drive, armed themselves and opened the door rather than calling the police.
“Those violent actions have devastated so many lives. The family and friends of Callum have had to face the loss of a loved one in such terrible circumstances.
“My thoughts are with them today and whilst the sentences imposed can never undo what has been done, I hope it will bring them some form of closure.
“I would like to thank the investigation team for their hard work during this complex investigation and the prosecution team in building the strongest possible case.”
