Shane Fox: Knifeman who stabbed Wellingborough man 'unlikely' to be found, says coroner
A man stabbed to death after a late-night fight was unlawfully killed, a coroner concluded as an inquest heard his killer was unlikely to be found.
Shane Fox, 26, died from a knife wound to the chest while walking to his flat on the Hemmingwell Estate in Wellingborough in the early hours of 1 December, 2018.
No one has ever been held responsible for his death and his parents have made regular appeals for information, including speaking of their total "nightmare" on the fifth anniversary of his death last year.
His father Ian Fox has since died, without ever seeing justice done for his son.
At an inquest in Northampton on Wednesday, the county's senior coroner Anne Pember apologised to Mr Fox's family that the inquest had taken so long to be heard fully.
She said that it was "unlikely for any person to be found" responsible and therefore "it is time now to conclude this matter".
The court heard a statement from Mr Fox's brother Craig, who said the pair had been drinking brandy and smoking cannabis, and were walking back through the Hemmingwell Estate in the early hours.
A man had appeared at a flat window and shouted at the brothers to be quiet, with Shane Fox snapping back and suggesting the man meet them in front of the flats.
Craig Fox then described seeing a black man in his 20s holding two kitchen knives coming towards the pair, and lunging for his brother.
He told the court he believed it was the same man who had shouted from the window.
Shane Fox suffered a single stab wound to the heart and his brother, who tried to intervene, was also stabbed in the chest. The 26-year-old died at the scene.
"There was no way he was coming back," said Craig Fox. "I collapsed against the wall when I realised.
Det Ch Insp Adam Pendlebury told the inquest that no CCTV cameras had identified suspects, forensic analysis had not yielded an effective lead on the killer, and house-to-house inquiries had drawn a blank.
He said some "low-grade DNA" was recovered from Shane Fox's hands which was not on the DNA database, though he added this could have come from attacker, medical personnel who tried to save him, or someone else he encountered that night.
He appealed once more for anyone with information to contact police and said loyalties may have changed over time.
"The investigation into the death of Shane Fox will never be closed, it will remain open until his killer is found," he said.