Three people have been jailed for a combined 31 years following a deadly knife rampage near a nightclub in Cornwall last year.

Rugby player Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, died at the scene from his injuries and five others were injured in the frenzied attack outside Eclipse in Bodmin in April 2023.

Jake Hill, 25, Tia Taylor, 22, and Chelsea Powell, 22, all from the Bodmin area, faced charges over the incident. The trio were convicted on March 18 following a six-week trial held at Truro Crown Court - and have been sentenced today (Friday, April 12).

A jury last month found Hill guilty of murder and guilty of four counts of wounding with intent. He was found not guilty of another charge of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.

Powell was found not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of perverting the course of justice by the jury. Taylor changed her plea to guilty of perverting the course of justice and to manslaughter part way through the trial.

Hill, of Jubilee Terrace, was given a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 28 years before being eligible for parole, reduced to 27 years and 18 days in prison taking the time he has already been in custody into account. He will remain on licence for the rest of his life if released.

Taylor was sentenced to three years imprisonment for her involvement. She will serve half of that and will then be released on licence.

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Powell was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. The judge directed she too should serve half of that sentence and as she has been on remand for nine months, she was released immediately.

In her sentencing remarks High Court Judge the Honourable Mrs Justice Cutts called the night in which Mr Riddiough-Allen lost his life one of "carnage". Addressing the three defendants, she said: "On the evidence I heard, all in the Eclipse had a good time but as people started to leave violence erupted in the road outside. That violence had nothing to do with any of the three of you and there was absolutely no reason why you could not have followed the others in your group and by not getting involved you could have headed home."

During the lengthy trial the court heard how Hill had hidden a hunting knife in a hedge near to the nightclub before he entered it that night. He later picked it up as he left the club around 3am.

Prosecutors said that when a fight broke out between around 15 revellers in the street, which Hill was not originally involved in, Hill used it to either stab or slash his victims. It was alleged that both Taylor and Powell had joined in with the attack on Mr Riddiough-Allen, but none of the others.

It heard how Mr Riddiough-Allen, who suffered a single "un-survivable" knife wound, was the fifth person to be stabbed. The much-loved rugby player was unarmed and had been trying to separate the various fighting groups when he was fatally injured. Taylor was said to have punched the deceased several times to the head as he lay on the road in a defensive position.

Hill was arrested by armed police at the home of Taylor in the early hours after stabbing Mr Riddiough-Allen. During an armed stand-off Taylor appeared from the house holding her two young children.

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Taylor told police Hill wasn't inside her home but a video played during the trial showed her toddler telling police he was in the loft. Prosecutors told the jury Taylor and Powell "both individually deliberately lied to police as to events that evening" to "frustrate the police investigation".

Powell told the court that she never saw the knife, didn't know Hill had one and regretted her decision to answer no comment in a police interview after the incident. She told the jury the night out had been a rare night off from her two young children, who were 10 months old and just under three years old at the time.

She was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter but guilty of perverting the course of justice. Taylor initially denied the charges against her but later admitted her involvement during the trial, changing her pleas to guilty part-way through.

After the verdict the Crown Prosecution Service called the attack "cowardly," saying: "Jake Hill went for a night out with friends armed with a knife. That decision culminated in a cowardly attack that tragically took the life of Michael Riddiough-Allen, an unarmed man who was just trying to break up a fight."

The families of Michael Riddiough-Allen and the three defendants united in a stand against knife crime following the verdict. Reading out the joint statement, Michael's sister said: "If a change does not happen then many more families will stand on court steps, broken from the loss that knife crime brings."