Robert Goodwin jailed over Shane Thompson stabbing

A man who murdered his friend who offered him a job after being released from prison, has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years.

Shane Thompson spent the day working with his killer Robert Goodwin before going to a pub and then Mr Thompson's girlfriend's house in Birmingham.

At some point during the evening, Goodwin chased and stabbed Mr Thompson leaving him dying on her bed in 2021.

He previously admitted murder and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Thompson tried to flee from the 32-year-old by running up the stairs to escape, but Goodwin chased him with a knife and stabbed him in the back, chest and abdomen and then left in Mr Thompson's car.

His body was discovered by his girlfriend who returned home later that evening on 4 December to find him on her bed in a pool of blood at her Bartley Green home.

Goodwin, of Washington Court, Birmingham, was spotted later in a dishevelled state by a member of the public before an off-duty police officer took him to hospital and alerted West Midlands Police.

He admitted killing Mr Thompson, also 32, but denied his murder.

Speaking after he was found guilty of murder in February, Emily Clewer of the CPS said the motive for the killing was not clear but Mr Thompson was betrayed in the worst possible way.

"Robert Goodwin had just been released from prison just days before the murder and Mr Thompson offered him a source of employment, and this kindness ended up costing Mr Thompson his life," she said.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]