A deli worker has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a garage employee following a long-standing feud between their neighbouring businesses on an industrial estate in North Tyneside.
Alder Willis, 68, from Camperdown, North Tyneside, was found guilty of fatally stabbing 36-year-old father-of-three Andrew Darn after a heated confrontation outside their workplaces on March 27, 2024. Willis was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 18 years, following his conviction at Newcastle Crown Court in August.
The trial heard that the feud between staff at The Deli Sandwich Shop, where Willis worked, and Easy Access Garage Doors, where Darn was employed, had stretched back over a decade, primarily revolving around parking disputes on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate.
The fatal altercation was reportedly triggered the day before the stabbing when a sausage roll thrown by a worker from the garage, meant for seagulls, hit Willis’ partner, resulting in a physical altercation. The following day, tensions escalated further when Willis, armed with a knife, confronted Darn outside their respective workplaces.
Prosecutor Francis Fitzgibbon KC told the court: “Mr Darn threw a punch at the defendant. The defendant responded by pulling a knife that he had in his pocket and stabbing Mr Darn, once. The knife went up through Mr Darn’s rib cage and into the area around his heart and aorta.
Despite managing to reach his car, Mr Darn succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene.
During the sentencing, Mr Darn’s father, Michael, paid an emotional tribute to his son, describing him as a “larger than life character” with a sense of humour that would be deeply missed. When Andrew died, a big part of me died with him and will never be filled,” he said. A father should never have to identify their son as I did on that Thursday.
Judge Paul Sloan KC condemned the “trivial and childish” nature of the long-standing dispute, noting that Darn had only been employed at the garage since April 2022 and had not been involved in the decade-long quarrel.
The judge described the stabbing as a “deliberate and cowardly use of a lethal weapon,” stating that Willis had intentionally swung the knife at Darn twice, striking him fatally. “Knowing you had struck Mr Darn with the knife, you made your way back to the Deli,” Judge Sloan added. Meanwhile, Darn sat in his car, where he “bled to death.
Willis, who had no previous criminal convictions, was described by his defence as a “hard-working man” but will now serve a life sentence for his actions.
The case has left the local community shocked, as a decade-long feud between two businesses tragically ended i
