Wakefield man jailed for murder of Stephen Burkinshaw

Christopher Lodge, 37, of Buckingham Court, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years and 10 months at Leeds Crown Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to the murder of Stephen Burkinshaw.

Mr Burkinshaw, 40, was found with serious injuries at an address in Buckingham Court in the early hours of April 10 this year.

He was taken to hospital but was pronounced deceased a short time later.

Detective Inspector Sam Freeman, of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “Our sympathies remain with Mr Burkinshaw’s family at this tragic time, and we hope his family will find some closure now his killer has been sentenced.”

Mr Burkinshaw’s family have also issued a new photo of him and paid tribute.

They said: “No sentence would ever feel enough due to nothing being able to change the outcome of this unfortunate situation, we are relieved to have been granted with some form of closure.

“We would like to thank our liaison officer and victim support worker for helping us as best as they possibly could through this awful time.

“Stephen will forever be in our thoughts, he may be gone but he’ll never be forgotten.

"We will love you always and forever, fly high our beautiful baby blue eyed boy.”