Convicted killer Kane Hull admits illegally having phones in prison and arson plot

A convicted murderer given a life sentence for a Carlisle knife attack has admitted three new offences committed while he was on remand in prison waiting to stand trial.

Kane Hull, now 30, stabbed Ryan Kirkpatrick to death in a city shopping centre in front of shocked witnesses while the latter was on a night out with friends in September 2021.

Hull and another man, Liam Porter, who lent crucial support, denied murdering Mr Kirkpatrick but were convicted of murder by a Carlisle Crown Court jury in October last year.

They were given life prison sentences and ordered to serve minimum terms of at least 28 years and 26 years, respectively.

But just days before their trial began, while Hull was remanded in custody, he was found to be in possession of illegally held micro-mobile phones which had been hidden inside his body in HMP Frankland.

Analysis of text traffic subsequently revealed that Hull and another Carlisle man, 25-year-old Steven Paul Kidd, of Oaklands Drive, Upperby, had been involved in a plot to torch a vehicle which was set on fire in the Morton area of the city.

This vehicle is said to have belonged to a relative of a former partner.

Hull initially denied two charges which alleged the possession of prohibited items — the phones — in prison on 11 October, and a third which alleged conspiracy to commit arson on the 3rd of that month.

He was due to go on trial in front of a jury this week. But this afternoon after out-of-court legal discussions with his legal team, Hull pleaded guilty to all three offences after his barrister asked for the charges to be read to him again.

Hull wore a blue T-shirt and sat with his arms crossed as he entered the guilty pleas, appearing in court remotely over a video link from custody.

Kidd had admitted conspiracy to commit arson during a previous court hearing.

Both Hull and Kidd are due to be sentenced by a judge at the crown court on Wednesday when they are due to attend remotely over video links.

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