TWO years ago today the city was still in shock after a troubled young man had been arrested on suspicion of murdering his own father who had been stabbed and killed at a bus stop.

Police were called to the scene on Crookbarrow Road, Norton, at 11pm on November 16, 2017, and found 63-year-old Robert Sampson had a knife wound in his left side which was bleeding profusely.

He later died on the way to hospital from his injuries, which also included head wounds.

His son, Daryl Sampson, then-28, was quickly discovered near the scene with a hunting blade and arrested, before being remanded in custody following a brief crown court hearing three days later.

The Crown Prosecution Service would later put forward that Sampson was apprehended after making an admission of guilt to the officers at the scene.

On the day of the murder, Sampson was driven by his sisters from his flat in Walsall to his mum’s home in Broomhall Cottages, Broomhall, where he collected the knife he kept in his old bedroom.

Having taken around 10 benzodiazepine tablets he’d purchased illegally, as well as cocaine and having drunk three or four cans of cider, he met with his father – as previously arranged – in Crookbarrow Road.

The meeting turned into an argument and a physical scuffle in which Mr Sampson allegedly punched his son in the throat before the younger man stabbed him.

Sampson later said he had set up the late-night meeting so he could “lay everything out on the table” and discuss what he called their “toxic, abandoning relationship” – but was adamant he never set out intending to murder his victim.

During his trial at Birmingham Crown Court the following May, Sampson claimed he had simply “lost control” and had taken the knife as protection because he was “terrified” of his father.

But the defendant was unable to persuade the jury, who took just 90 minutes to bring back a unanimous guilty verdict on May 9, 2018.

Sampson was subsequently jailed for a minimum of 24 years.

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Georgina Davies, senior prosecutor with West Midlands CPS, said: "Daryl Sampson used the pretence of reconciliation to carry out a premeditated, violent and callous murder on his unsuspecting father.

"The defendant claimed that his father was the aggressor and that he stabbed him in self-defence. However, we were able to prove that this was not the case. He will now have to deal with the consequences of his actions."

Det Sgt Natalie Martin of West Mercia Police said the stabbing happened in the open, on a public street in a quiet area and Sampson took no responsibility for his actions and showed no remorse.

PC Oliver Bowen-Jones was the first officer on the scene and said he subsequently tackled Sampson and searched him for weapons and injuries.

He told the court: “As I arrived and put the blue lights on a male approached me. That was Daryl Sampson.

“He said words to the effect of ‘I’m the person you are looking for’. To prevent him making off I took hold of him. Seeing blood on the floor I arrested him on suspicion of assault.

“He informed me he had a knife in his front left pocket. It was sheathed at the time. He was complaining he wanted a cigarette or something to that effect.

“As I said ‘bear with me a second’ he said words to the effect of ‘I’ve just told you I’ve murdered someone and told you where the knife is’.”

Each member of the jury inspected the sheathed knife, which was passed around the courtroom in a tube.

PC Bowen-Jones re-arrested Sampson on suspicion of attempted murder, which caused the defendant to become agitated.

With the help of another officer he then took the offender to the ground, despite Sampson’s attempts to resist.

Video footage of the arrest, filmed on the PC Bowen-Jones’ body camera, was also shown to the jury.

Sampson could be heard saying: “Don’t drag me around, please don’t drag me around.

“I told you exactly where the murder weapon was and you are being an absolute [expletive] to me. I didn’t have to give you the murder weapon.

“I tried to kill him. I want to kill him. 25 to life mate, I don’t care, I would do it for him.”

In the video, the defendant also admitted he had drunk a ‘couple of cans’, although he said he would have done more damage if he was sober.

Sampson could also be heard telling officers he acted in self-defence after his dad jumped out of a car and hit him in the mouth.

PC Bowen-Jones added Sampson said “wicked, I’m happy” when he was informed his father had died.

Paramedic Darren Davies told the court Mr Sampson suffered a cardiac arrest while being transported to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Having stabbed his father, Sampson had walked away from the scene and returned a blood-covered mobile phone to his sister Danielle Thrower and said on her doorstep: “He’s dead, I’ve killed him.”

He then returned to Crookbarrow Road and grabbed his father by the lapels and attacked him further.

Eyewitness Andrew Bradley told the Worcester News the day after the murder, that it was probably the most violent thing he had ever seen.

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Sampson also called his fiancée, Renata Ocenasoua, and said: "I'm sorry. He punched me. We had a fight and I stabbed him.

"I'm sorry. I am not going to see you for a long time. I'm sorry. I love you."

Mr Sampson had refused to pay for his son’s drug rehabilitation treatment in Thailand, and as a result his time there was cut short and he returned to the UK and quickly began taking heroin again.

Sampson’s mother, Karon Thrower, said her son had been doing well in Thailand but had deteriorated after receiving the rejection from his father.

A staff member at the rehabilitation centre had emailed to say he felt his dad, “had never been there.” The message added: “It has brought to the surface a lot of anger.”

Father and son briefly met in March 2017 in Worcester where they hugged and went for a coffee. Mr Sampson later invited his son to his wedding in Italy.

Sampson did not attend the wedding and instead sent a drunken, expletive-laden WhatsApp message to Mr Sampson’s soon-to-be wife Deborah on the day of the wedding, saying he hoped his father would do the “decent thing and die alone”.

Sarah Horton, a custody nurse who examined Sampson at Worcester police station, told the court he said: “It is all his fault. I had full intention of killing him for what he has done to my mom. He beat her.”

Mrs Horton said Sampson told her he had said to his dad, “I want this to be the last face you see” before slapping him in the face.

He told the nurse he didn’t regret it and was “glad he was dead and got what he deserved”.

In a statement, Mr Sampson’s wife Deborah described him as “a brilliant dad, son, brother and husband”.