‘Coward’ killer seen re-enacting murder after stabbing man, 21, to death in unprovoked attack

Carl Madigan plunged knife into Sam Cook's heart while he was already being attacked

Sam Cook (Merseyside Police)

A killer who stabbed to death a man celebrating his 21st birthday was seen re-enacting the slaying for friends the same evening.

Carl Madigan plunged the knife into Sam Cook’s heart in an unprovoked attack at a Liverpool bar.

He was later caught on CCTV laughing about the incident and demonstrating where he knifed his victim.

The 23-year-old, of Adam Close, Garston, admitted manslaughter but denied murder at Liverpool Crown Court. He was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison after a jury found him guilty.

Carl Madigan (Merseyside Police)

Presiding Judge Clement Goldstone QC called for all late night licensed premises in the city to have weapon detecting arches.

The trial heard Madigan killed Mr Cook, from nearby Crosby, following a row in the Empire Bar just before midnight on October 21, 2017, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Violence flared after Mr Cook’s girlfriend Charlotte Owen was bumped into by Lewis Langfield, a friend of Madigan who has since admitted affray.

When the couple asked 21-year-old Langfield to be careful, he attacked them, punching Mr Cook and hitting Miss Owen in the face with a glass.

Within eight seconds, Madigan joined the attack, pulling a vegetable knife from his sock, and driving it into his victim, who collapsed immediately.

The killer – who had a previous conviction for stabbing a man with a machete - later ditched the weapon in a drain before heading to another bar, Sugar Hut.

Prosecutors said both on the journey there and while at the new venue, CCTV showed him reconstructing the murder for friends by touching his torso and pretending to fall to the floor.

Nicholas Johnson, QC, told him: “You were bigging yourself up, being a hard man.”

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Tivendale of Merseyside Police, said after sentencing: "Madigan chose to carry a knife into Liverpool city centre and did so with the full intention of using it.

"Following a minor argument, and while Sam was being attacked by others, he struck a singular, cowardly, forcible and violent blow to Sam's chest. Sam didn't stand a chance."

In a statement released through Merseyside Police, Mr Cook’s family said he was “kind, caring, well-mannered and funny. He also had the most infectious smile which we will never see again”.

They added he had planned on being an electrician like his father and said: "Sam was a young, handsome man who had everything to live for, he had such a bright future ahead of him.”