Mirfield murder latest: Pair given life sentences for killing Josh Hirst

Joe Church and Aaron Smith were found guilty last Friday of attacking Mr Hirst outside his Mirfield home last summer.

Today (Thursday) they were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in front of a public gallery packed with Mr Hirst’s loved ones.

Church, 21, of Redlands Close, Mirfield, will serve at least 25 years in prison, and Smith, 19, of Saville Street, Emley, will serve at least 22 years, minus 198 days the pair have served on remand.

The Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC told them: “You have both contested this trial and you Church have tried to lie your way out of what you did.”

Church’s then girlfriend, Kirstie Rainford, 22, of Springbank Drive, Liversedge, was also jailed this afternoon.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of assisting an offender at an earlier hearing.

A third man, Nadeem Rashid, 21, of Lapwing View, Horbury, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter after the four week trial.

For the full story, see this week’s paper.