Three young men found guilty of Wigan borough 30-year-old's murder

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Ben Dawber 19, Kane Adamson 19, and Joshua Prescott 20, knifed Thomas Williamson to death after wrongly identifying him as someone with whom they had been in an altercation earlier.

It is the second time this year that Wigan men have been convicted of murder based on mistaken identity. Eight vigilantes were convicted of killing Marsh Green dad Chris Hughes after wrongly thinking he was responsible for a girl’s rape.

Thomas had simply gone out for a walk in Tyldesley to clear his head on that fateful night in September 2021.

A post-mortem examination concluded that he had died from multiple stab wounds, including one to the neck and another to the heart and lungs, during the attack in Charles Street.

Dawber and Adamson, both of no fixed address, and Prescott, of Walter Street in Leigh, all denied both murder and alternative manslaughter charges, but were found guilty of the more serious offence by the Manchester jury after a four-week trial.

Adamson and Dawber pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery earlier in the night on Stanley Street in Atherton.

Nicky Moore, senior Crown prosecutor with CPS North West’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “Dawber, Adamson and Prescott were out that night looking for trouble. They carried out a brutal, unprovoked and senseless attack on a stranger.

“The CPS worked with GMP’s Major Incident Team to build a compelling case to place before the jury, including CCTV evidence, eyewitness testimony, mobile phone evidence and mobile phone positioning data to show the three were together before and after the murder. The jury found all three guilty of murder.

“My thoughts are very much with Thomas’s family. Nothing can bring him back, but I hope knowing Thomas’s attackers have been brought to justice will bring them some comfort at this difficult time.”