Latest news with #IanChurch
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wife of fallen Jacksonville firefighter working to install memorial sign at his fire station
Ian Church had only lived 41 years by the time he died. His wife, Brittany, believes he spent every second of it in service to others. 'If I had to give one adjective to Ian Church, it would be loyalty,' said Brittany Church, Ian Church's wife, 'He would have ran through a fire to protect anyone, and he just loved the city and wanted to make sure that it was safe.' Running through fires wasn't just part of Church's character, but his calling. He spent three and a half years as an engineer with the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, after serving both with Clay County Fire Rescue and the U.S. Marine Corps. Action News Jax told you last August when JFRD shared that Church had died after a long-fought battle with cancer. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< During her conversation only with Action News Jax, Brittany Church shared that she still thinks of one of his stories of courage: saving a dog from a burning home in December 2023. 'He always just wanted to make the world a better place and let other people know that they were protected and well taken care of,' Church said. Church has now been without her husband for nine months, working as a single mother to her and Ian's three young kids. Recently, Ian's former fire captain at JFRD Station 60 in Jacksonville Beach inspired her to ask the city for a memorial street sign to be placed outside of the station in his name. Church says it's both a way to honor his legacy and poke fun at his challenge with directions. 'His captain said that we should do a street sign by our house so he'd always find his way home back to us,' said Church. But Church feels her husband has never lost his way back in the months he's been gone. She told Action News Jax she had asked her husband, soon before he died, to return to their family as a crow. She says she sees crows flying by her car, at the playground with their kids, and in other places whenever she's having a rough day or feeling a strong wave of grief. She doesn't just miss celebrating his service fighting flames, but the fire for his family, she can still feel burning. 'He said his favorite time of the day was when he'd get off shift and come home at 7:30 in the morning and all the kids would come running out in their diapers to give him a hug,' said Church, 'that's what I miss, is my kids having their dad.' The Jacksonville Beach City Council is meeting Monday to vote on approval for the street sign to honor Church. If it's passed, it will go up outside the station by South Beach Park. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man jailed three times for same murder loses appeal
A man jailed three times for the same murder has failed in an appeal to get his sentence reduced. Stuart Layden was first jailed for life in 2013, aged 30, for murdering Ian Church, 40, outside the Bricklayers Arms pub in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk in 2012. Court of Appeal judges overturned his conviction in 2015 and ordered a retrial - and in it was quashed for a second time in 2023. He spent 18 months on bail until Supreme Court judges restored his conviction in April this year with the minimum term of 13 years. Lord Justice Jeremy Baker, said during the Court of Appeal hearing: "Since the restoration of his conviction for murder, this has put back the date of his eligibility for parole." Layden, formerly of South Quay in Great Yarmouth, was among five people convicted of murdering Mr Church, and he was given the 13-year minimum jail term before he would be considered for release. Last month, lawyers representing Layden told the appeal court his time spent on bail should be deducted from the overall sentence. They said that if this time was considered, he would have served almost the whole of his minimum term and be eligible for parole. The judges refused the appeal, saying Layden's time spent outside prison on bail was likely to have been "of considerable value" in persuading the Parole Board that he was no longer a danger to the public. In a judgment on Friday, Justice Baker said: "The fact of the matter is that, following his conviction for murder, the applicant has been at liberty for a period of about 18 months, albeit subject to an electronic curfew, when he would otherwise have remained in custody. "Given the effect of a sentence of imprisonment for life, there could be no assumption that the applicant would have been released on the earlier date or at all." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Man twice jailed for murder has conviction restored Quashed pub murder ruling could go to Supreme Court Pub murder conviction quashed over procedural error Court of Appeal
BBC News
24-05-2025
- BBC News
Man jailed three times for Great Yarmouth murder loses appeal
A man jailed three times for the same murder has failed in an appeal to get his sentence Layden was first jailed for life in 2013, aged 30, for murdering Ian Church, 40, outside the Bricklayers Arms pub in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk in of Appeal judges overturned his conviction in 2015 and ordered a retrial - and it was quashed for a second time in 2023. He spent 18 months on bail until Supreme Court judges restored his conviction in April this year with the minimum term of 13 the Court of Appeal hearing, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker said: "Since the restoration of his conviction for murder, this has put back the date of his eligibility for parole." Layden, formerly of South Quay in Yarmouth, was among five people convicted of murdering Mr Church, and he was given the 13-year minimum jail term before he could be considered for month, lawyers representing Layden told the appeal court his time spent on bail should be deducted from that part of the said that if this time was considered, he would have served almost the whole of his minimum term and be eligible for judges rejected the appeal, saying Layden's time spent outside prison on bail was likely to have been "of considerable value" in persuading the Parole Board that he was no longer a danger to the a judgment on Friday, Justice Baker said: "The fact of the matter is that, following his conviction for murder, the applicant has been at liberty for a period of about 18 months, albeit subject to an electronic curfew, when he would otherwise have remained in custody."Given the effect of a sentence of imprisonment for life, there could be no assumption that the applicant would have been released on the earlier date or at all." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- BBC News
Stuart Layden has murder conviction restored
A man who was twice found guilty of the same murder - and had both convictions quashed - has had his conviction "restored" following a Supreme Court Layden was among five people convicted of murdering Ian Church, 40, outside the Bricklayers Arms pub in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in of Appeal judges overturned his conviction in 2015 and ordered a retrial - and in 2023 quashed a second conviction due to a procedural at the Supreme Court said a third trial risked "bringing the criminal justice system into disrepute" and could lead to "otherwise safe" convictions being "set aside on a technicality". Lord Hamblen concluded that Layden's murder conviction would be "restored", and issues concerning bail and his surrender to custody would be dealt with by the Court of formerly of South Quay, Great Yarmouth, was first handed a life sentence for Mr Church's murder in April successfully appealed against the conviction in March 2015 and was rearraigned for a new trial six months was again found guilty in May 2016 and sentenced to almost nine years in 2022, he applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to look at concerns around the timing of his retrial.A defendant must be rearraigned - asked how they plead - within two months of an 2023, three appeal judges concluded he was not properly arraigned before a retrial at Norwich Crown Court in 2016, stating the failure was "entirely avoidable".The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court in March, claiming the Court of Appeal had prioritised court processes over a fair for Layden opposed the appeal, claiming that ignoring the two-month time limit would "effectively neuter the 'extra safeguard' Parliament intended to introduce in Court of Appeal-ordered retrials".Earlier, five Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled in the CPS's favour. In his ruling, Lord Hamblen said that while the law did not specify the consequences of failing to comply with procedural rules around the two-month arraignment period, invalidating proceedings entirely would be a "triumph of form over substance" and created the "perverse incentive" for a defendant to abscond or "do nothing""Parliament cannot fairly have intended total invalidity to follow from non-compliance with the procedural requirements," he 27-page judgment was supported by Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Stephens and Lady Simler. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
