A drug dealer has been jailed for stabbing a man to death in a North Yorkshire park.
Brooklyn Bell, 19, killed Simon McMinn after an argument about Bell trying to sell cocaine to school children.
Bell, from Keighley, worked for a county lines drug gang based in West Yorkshire.
He had travelled to Aireville Park in Skipton to sell drugs, including £60 worth of heroin and crack cocaine to Mr McMinn and his friend.
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Mr McMinn and Bell started to quarrel and Bell stabbed the 44-year-old once in the chest and twice in the back, then fled the scene leaving him to die.
Bell was also convicted for a similar attack against a man in Bournemouth when he was 16-years-old and dealing for a London-based County Lines drug gang.
He stabbed a 54-year-old man in the back three times with a flick knife following a minor disagreement.
The victim suffered a collapsed lung and needed emergency surgery but survived.
Bell then went on the run, writing drill rap lyrics glorifying the stabbing and boasting that he wouldn’t be caught.
“I left that crime scene happy. No evidence. So the feds can’t catch me,” he wrote.
Bell travelled to Skipton on July 28 last year to sell drugs, and claimed to have sold about £500 worth, before meeting McMinn that evening.
Witnesses who saw Bell in Aireville Park described him as “looking dodgy” and said the do-rag he wore on his head and his low-slung jeans made him stand out.
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Mr McMinn and his friend approached Bell to buy drugs, but Mr McMinn also challenged him after he had discovered that Bell had offered cocaine to a schoolboy earlier in the day.
The argument escalated and Bell plunged a knife into his victim three times before getting a taxi back to Keighley as police and paramedics tried to save Mr McMinn’s life.
But McMinn had suffered severe blood loss from internal injuries.
North Yorkshire Police’s Major Investigation Team (MIT) launched a large-scale investigation and officers who searched the scene found a balaclava and drug wraps, both of which had traces of Bell’s DNA.
The MIT’s investigations led officers to addresses of Bell’s associates and family in both Keighley and Huddersfield in a quest to arrest Bell.
This resulted in Bell handing himself in at Huddersfield Police Station three days later.
North Yorkshire Police then worked closely with Dorset Police to investigate the Bournemouth incident, resulting in Bell being further charged. Bradford Crown Court heard how Bell claimed to be a low-status drug pusher for urban county lines drugs gangs that infiltrate smaller rural towns.
Following trial in January 2022, he was found not guilty of murder, but found guilty of the manslaughter of Simon McMinn.
Today (Thursday June 23) at the same court, he was jailed for ten years and four months for manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and supplying heroin and crack cocaine.
In mitigation, the court heard Bell was of low intelligence and had experienced poor parenting and a lack of role models.
However, the judge said he became willingly involved in drug dealing in West Yorkshire and craved a “hard man image”.
The judge gave Bell an extended three-year licence period when he is released from prison after ruling he was a danger to the public.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Steve Menzies, led a major investigation into the killing of Mr McMinn.
After Bell was sentenced, DI Menzies said: “Simon McMinn was a son, brother, and father who lost his life in Aireville Park in Skipton through the illegal carrying of a knife.
“It’s a sad indictment to the damage drugs do to communities, and the devastation they bring to families.
“While I know Mr McMinn’s family are heartbroken by their loss, I hope Bell’s sentence brings some comfort to them.
“County lines drug dealing adds another dimension, importing misery and conflict into otherwise low-crime communities such as Craven.
“We have dedicated teams that work tirelessly to rid our communities of drugs and prevent dealers from other areas ruining North Yorkshire.”
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