A man who boasted about “killing a police officer” after murdering his neighbour and stabbing another sleeping friend ten times was today (Friday) jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 35 years behind bars.
Wayne Rule, 47, was sent back to prison after previously being locked up for the hit-and-run manslaughter of traffic cop Jon Odell, 30.
Rule was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for unlawfully killing PC Odell who he struck when the officer was carrying out a speed check in Margate, Kent, before Christmas in 2000.
Following his release from jail Rule eventually settled in the Lincolnshire market town of Spalding where he murdered his neighbour, Darren Kirk, 51, just five days before Christmas in 2021.
Lincoln Crown Court heard Rule’s home had been raided by police in a drugs bust several days earlier and Mr Kirk’s partner believed he wrongly thought they had grassed him up.
Rule of Cygnet Court, Spalding, took a knife and repeatedly stabbed Mr Kirk in his home, which was also in Cygnet Court, shortly after 1am on 20 December 2021.
Mr Kirk had been home with his partner when Rule, a regular cocaine user, began banging on the door before entering the flat and herding them into the kitchen.
Paul Cavin KC, prosecuting, said Rule had something hidden up his sleeve.
Moments later, after making statements about a woman overdosing, he pulled out a knife and stabbed Mr Kirk multiple times in the chest.
When his victim was on the floor, Rule crouched over him and stabbed him multiple times in his back before leaving.
Mr Kirk was pronounced dead 45 minutes after being stabbed despite the best efforts of officers and paramedics at the scene.
Mr Cavin added: “A knife was found in the hallway and appeared to be bent out of shape.”
Police discovered Mr Kirk lying naked on the kitchen floor.
After stabbing Mr Kirk to death, Rule barricaded himself into his own flat. He threatened to “start shooting” and demanded a negotiator, leading to a six-hour standoff.
Mr Cavin added: “Armed officers attended and the defendant boasted about having killed a police officer in the past, which turned out to be true, and that he had a shotgun in the flat, and said he would kill another.”
No shotgun was found by police.
Following negotiation with specialist officers, Rule eventually surrendered.
When he came out, he was recorded asking officers, “Which one is dead?”
One of the wounds inflicted was described in the post mortem as being inflicted with “severe force”. There were no defensive injuries.
In her statement Mr Kirk’s partner of eleven years said: “I had to sit there and watch him die.”
She said Rule had got into his head that they had ‘grassed him up’ after the bust at his home on 17 December, but that wasn’t true.
Police also discovered that less than an hour before he murdered Mr Kirk, Rule had set out to kill another local man in his 40s.
Mark Stone had been stabbed ten times at an address just over half a mile away in Bowditch Road, Spalding.
Officers were called after being alerted by the ambulance service.
Mr Cavin said Mr Stone named Rule as his attacker.
“I was asleep. He came in and did this. It was Wayne Rule,” Mr Stone said in his police statement.
Mr Stone was saved by life saving surgery and said he previously got on well with Rule as they were both from Kent, had drug problems and had been to prison.
He described Rule flying into his room with two knives, one a ten inch carving knife, and a smaller one.
“I felt shock and horror as Wayne started to stab me. I’d never been so scared in my life,” Mr Stone said.
Mr Stone said he asked Rule:” What are you doing, we are friends?”
Rule replied: “You’ve ruined my life.”
Mr Stone said he believed Rule was aiming for his heart and felt the final blow would kill him.
Rule replied: “That’s what I came here for you f***king idiot.”
Mr Stone next remembered waking up in hospital on Christmas Day and spent six days in intensive care.
Two knives with bloodstains matching the first victim were found at the initial scene, and a further bloodstained knife was recovered from the murder scene.
In his victim impact statement Mr Stone said: “I was fast asleep when Wayne attacked me and now I can not sleep until I am totally exhausted.”
Mr Stone said he could not understand what Rule had done as they had been close friends.
“Every time he stabbed me he was going for my heart, and even the doctor told me I was lucky to be alive,” Mr Stone said.
The violence in the early hours of Monday 20 December 2021 appeared to be a result of a disagreement over drugs, police said, and Rule also believed his ex-partner had been in a relationship with Mr Stone.
Rule pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Kirk and the attempted murder of Mr Stone at a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Wednesday 4 January.
Bernard Richmond KC, mitigating, submitted it was not a case that fell under a whole life tariff.
“There is plainly from what was said an intention to kill,” Mr Richmond admitted.
Mr Richmond said the main aggravating feature was that it occured in the victims’ homes with others present.
“Premeditation is not as big a factor as in other cases,” Mr Richmond told the court.
Mr Richmond said pleading guilty to murder indicated Mr Rule accepted causing the most awful trauma to those involved.
“Mr Rule is someone who has lived with numerous problems over many years and is addressing those problems in prison.”
Mr Richmond said Mr Rules partner left him in 2019 and since then he had been unable to see his two children.
“On that particular day Mr Rule had so much going on his life that he snapped and just lashed out at anyone that was a player,” Mr Richmond added.
Mr Richmond said there had been problems with his neighbour, Mr Kirk, but he was not deliberately targeted for any particular reason.
Passing sentence Mr Justice Picken said the bar for a whole life tariff was exceptionally high and by not passing that sentence on Mr Rule in no way minimised his offending.
Sentencing Rule to a minimum tariff of 35 years imprisonment before he is eligible for parole, Mr Justice Picken said Rule had belatedly accepted responsibility for the murder of one man and the attempted murder of another.
“You launched yourself at Mr Stone, stabbing him some ten times,” Mr Justice Picken said.
“Mr Stone was clear you were aiming to stab him in the heart.”
Mr Justice Picken added: “Fortunately Mr Stone survived, tragically that was not the case for your second victim that night, Mr Kirk.”
Mr Justice Picken told Rule that after killing Mr Kirk, for a reason he could not be sure of, he barricaded himself in his flat requiring armed officers to attend the scene.
“You said you would shoot the first one through the door,” Mr Justice Picken added.
“Your response was to boast you had killed a police officer.”
Mr Justice Picken said he accepted the circumstances of his manslaughter conviction were different but added: “The fact remains you were responsible for the death of that police officer and received a sentence of nine years.”
Details of Rules’ previous convictions, including the manslaughter of Pc Odell, were also read out in court.
The court heard Rule had 21 previous convictions for 71 offences.
Officer Odell was thrown against the windscreen and carried 50 yards down the road when Rule hit him at 50mph with his Vauxhall Astra.
The incident happened as Pc Odell was carrying out road safety checks with six other officers in Margate, Kent, as part of a pre-Christmas clamp-down.
Rule attempted to swerve a couple of times to pass Pc Odell, but the officer moved in the same direction.
Pc Odell, who lived in Margate, was dragged about 50 yards along the road and his hat, shoes, belt, baton and CS spray were strewn along the path of the car.
He was rushed to the town’s Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital for emergency surgery, but died from “massive internal injuries.”
Sentencing him at Maidstone Crown Court in 2001, Judge Andrew Patience said: ‘”Pc Odell was more than 220 metres away when you saw him. You could have stopped, you should have stopped, but you did not.
‘Knowing you were a disqualified driver, you thought only of yourself, your desire to get away.”
Rule, then 25, was also disqualified from driving for 15 years.
He found himself back behind bars for six months in 2019 after he was caught on camera driving while banned in Spalding.
It was his fifth driving offence while banned since being out of prison.
Mr Kirk’s daughter, Alana Kirk, said in a statement that her life felt like it was on hold since he was killed. “I have been waiting for answers and it has consumed everything,” she said.
“Now it is coming to a close I am finding it slightly easier but I struggle to talk about it. Nothing can ever bring back my Dad or the relationship we had.
“Although he had not always been in my life, the six months to a year prior to his death we had connected again properly.
“Now he has been killed I will no longer have the opportunity to keep strengthening my relationship with my Dad.
” I want Wayne Rule to understand what he has done and that being a criminal – taking drugs and doing what he did – can only lead to ruin.
“He didn’t just ruin my Dad Darren’s life. It was ours and his own life. His actions had consequences for so many people.”
Detective Chief Inspector Andy McWatt from Lincolnshire Police led the investigation through the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU).
He said: “These were premeditated attacks, and it is clear that Wayne Rule fully intended to kill his first victim; it is sheer luck that he survived, and we’re thankful he did. It is desperately sad that Darren did not.
“His violent actions have had a profound effect on the victim left alive, and he lives with the physical and emotional consequences of that every day.
“Darren’s family and loved ones have also suffered a loss that can’t be replaced.
“While nothing can bring him back we hope that the hard work which has gone in to securing a conviction for his killer, and his sentence today, will go some way to offering them the opportunity to move forward with their lives.
“I am very grateful to the whole team involved in this investigation for their hard work and dedication in bringing this violent offender to justice.
“His sentence today reflects the severity of his crimes, and I am glad he will not be part of society any time in the near or distant future.”
Sally-Ann Flemmings-Danquah from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Wayne Rule has shown himself to be a violent and dangerous man. He has a long-standing criminal past and decided to commit these senseless attacks with no provocation whatsoever. Today’s sentence reflects the appalling nature of these attacks and the danger he presents to society.
“Our thoughts are with Darren Kirk’s loved ones. I would like to offer them my sincere sympathies. I would also like to thank the people who raise the alarm and gave evidence about the first attack and wish Mr Stone a speedy recovery from both the physical and emotional impact of this attack.”
