Overview
- The convictions and sentences were handed down at Teesside Crown Court on Monday, July 20, 2026, bringing the trial to a close.
- Prosecutors said the four men drove around Middlesbrough, rammed a VW in a car park and launched a sustained, roughly two-minute attack with machetes and a BB gun.
- Home Office pathologist evidence showed a thigh wound severed a main artery and that the victim, Anthony Dickons, was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived.
- Judge Jonathan Carroll jailed Morgan Caldwell for life with a minimum of 30 years, Dominic Hall for life with a minimum of 28 years, Kole James detained at His Majesty’s pleasure with a minimum of 26 years, and Daniel Simpson for 14 years.
- Defence teams cited lack of previous convictions for some defendants and argued differing roles, the weapons used were never recovered, and prosecutors said the attack followed a drugs dispute over an alleged £20,000 loss of cocaine.