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04
Dec 2023
Harrogate boy given life sentence for murder of Seb Mitchell
A 17-year-old boy has been given a life sentence after murdering Harrogate schoolboy Seb Mitchell.
Dylan Cranfield appeared before Leeds Crown Court this afternoon to be sentenced after being found guilty of murder in August this year.
He stabbed Harrogate Grammar School pupil Seb in the chest with a kitchen knife which led to a fatal loss of blood and cardiac arrest.
Guy Kearl KC, the Recorder of Leeds, sentenced Cranfield to a life sentence with a minimum of 11 years.
Cranfield murdered Seb, 17, after a row over a broken mirror at a property on Claro Road in Harrogate on February 19 this year.
Cranfield pleaded not guilty – he accepted he stabbed Seb, but said he did not intend to kill him.
A teenage girl who witnessed the incident told police Cranfield pointed the knife at Seb and said “I’m going to wet you up”, which the court heard was “London slang” for a stabbing.
Seb was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by ambulance, but his condition was so critical he was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where he underwent emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma.
He died two days after the incident.
Read more:
- Seb Mitchell trial: Murder accused stabbed victim after row
- Court allows media to name Harrogate boy murderer
Cranfield, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was found guilty at a court hearing on August 25.
Judge Kearl lifted reporting restrictions on Cranfield, which had previously prevented the media naming him during proceedings.
Courts have discretionary powers to prevent the media from naming children to protect their welfare. Such orders remain in place until the child reaches 18.
However, Judge Kearl the welfare of children had to be balanced against the open justice principle that says the media should be able to report cases “fully and contemporaneously”.
He said the public interest of highlighting the dangers of knife crime meant it was therefore “in the interests of justice to lift reporting restrictions”.
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