Killer who carried out barbaric ‘horror movie’ torture on drug seller loses jail time period attraction

Thomas Campbell, 38, was left for dead in his hallway after being tied up, stabbed and beaten for two hours by a gang who ransacked his home in search of valuables, cash or drugs

A killer who ambushed, tortured and killed a father-of-two has had his appeal against his 37-year prison sentence rejected. Reece Steven was one of three individuals sentenced over the murder of Thomas Campbell in Mossley, Tameside, in July 2022.

The 38-year-old victim was brutally killed in his own home after being targeted by armed men in what was characterised as a “robbery of a drug dealer by other drug dealers.”

He was bound, stabbed and assaulted for two hours while his murderers searched his home for valuables, money or drugs.

Mr Campbell, a convicted drug dealer believed to have been an “integral” member of an organised crime group, sustained at least 61 separate injuries in the “barbaric” attack.

He was left to die in his hallway and was discovered the following morning by a neighbour, naked except for a pair of socks and bound with duct tape.

In February 2023, Steven, then 29, of Poplar Street, Middleton, was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob at Bolton Crown Court.

Campbell’s former wife, Coleen Campbell, 38, of Bamford Street, Clayton, received a 13-year prison sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter.

The court heard that she provided crucial information about her ex-husband’s location and movements, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The third defendant, 38-year-old Stephen Cleworth from Charles Street, Heywood, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years after being found guilty of manslaughter.

Although he wasn’t present at the murder scene due to being on a “bender” at a swingers club, he played a crucial role in the planning and preparations.

However, the Appeal Court judges Lord Justice Dingemans, Mrs Justice Cutts and Judge Forster KC stated that the trial judge had already determined there was no intention to kill, but this mitigation was “substantially tempered by the prolonged suffering caused to the deceased before he died.”

They also ruled that while “on the evidence” Stephen, who had 18 convictions for 30 offences including robbery and possession of an imitation firearm, was not the “mastermind” of the plot, the trial judge “was perfectly entitled to find and sentence the applicant for having that central role.”

The judges dismissed the appeal, stating: “As the judge had noted, there had been what was in effect the torturing of the victim for two hours, which had included wounding, pouring hot liquid onto his genitals, stripping him and dragging him around the house. In those circumstances, this was a sentence which we are unable to find is arguably manifestly excessive.”

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