Convicted murderer stabbed to death in prison

A convicted murderer from Greater Manchester has died after he was stabbed behind bars in prison, police have revealed. Stephen Strutt, 42, was jailed for life in 2021 after he was convicted of the murder in June 2020 of dad Warren Glover in a revenge attack.

A court heard Mr Glover, who was 33, was beaten with a metal bar and found unconscious on a street. He died three weeks later in hospital. Staffordshire Police confirmed emergency services were called to HMP Dovegate, near Uttoxeter, last Saturday morning after reports a prisoner had been stabbed. Strutt was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but died as a result of his injuries.

The force subsequently confirmed the launch of a murder investigation. A 46-year-old man, of HMP Dovegate, was arrested on suspicion of murder and has been released on bail back to prison, said a force spokesperson.

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Strutt, formerly of Stalybridge, Tameside, was ordered by a judge to serve a minimum term of 20 years. His death comes just three years into his sentence.

Two men and a woman – all from Greater Manchester – were also jailed for life for Mr Glover’s murder. Brother and sister Aaron and Melissa Stubbs, both aged 30 and from Burnage at the time, also received life sentences Both were convicted of ‘joint enterprise’ murder, together with Strutt and Strutt’s brother-in-law, Peter Walker, then aged 31 and from Wythenshawe.

All four denied the charges they faced, but were found guilty by a jury after a trial. They also subsequently lost a bid to appeal against their convictions.

Mr Glover, Liverpool Crown Court heard, had been in ‘a short intense relationship’ with Melissa Stubbs, but they separated in November, 2019. Mr Glover, it was said, started dating another woman at the start of 2020. However, the court heard text messages showed he and Melissa Stubbs were talking about getting back together and had arranged to meet on June 12 2020, before she started to suspect he was seeing someone else. By June 13 they had fallen out, a judge was told.

Mr Glover was then said to have sent abusive texts to Melissa Stubbs and her parents, which also referenced her son. It led to Aaron and Melissa Stubbs telling Mr Glover they were coming to ‘smack his head in’, the trial heard.

The siblings, together with Strutt and Walker, drove from Greater Manchester to Thatto Heath, St Helens, in a Kia car after arming themselves with weapons. The court heard that before they arrived, Mr Glover ‘armed himself with a lump hammer’, went into the street and ‘swung the hammer and damaged the car’.

Judge Denis Watson QC, in sentencing remarks, ruled they didn’t intend to kill Mr Glover whilst driving from Manchester, but did intend to cause him grievous bodily harm.

Mr Glover was left unconscious and suffered a fractured skull in the attack at around 10.15pm on June 13 2020. He died in hospital on July 7.

In a statement, Staffordshire Police said: “Detectives have named the man who died at HMP Dovegate on Saturday. The victim has been named as 42-year-old Stephen Strutt. Specialist officers continue to support Stephen’s family. We launched our investigation after receiving reports just after 9am on Saturday morning (13 July) that a prisoner had been stabbed at HMP Dovegate, near Uttoxeter.

“Stephen was taken to hospital in a critical condition and sadly did as a result of his injuries. A 46-year-old man, of HMP Dovegate, was arrested on suspicion of murder. He has been released on bail back to prison.” He hasn’t been named.