Anthony Walker was a
black A-level student from Huyton, Merseyside, England. He was
murdered with an ice axe by white youths in a racially motivated
crime.
He was 18 years old. Prior to the assault, a hooded man in his 20s
taunted
Anthony at a bus stop
outside the Huyton Park pub where
Anthony was waiting
for a bus with his white girlfriend and mixed-race male cousin.
The three walked away from the abuse without retaliating, but a
gang of up to four men caught up with them as they crossed
McGoldrick Park and began to physically assault Walker. His
girlfriend and cousin ran to get help. When they returned, they
found
Anthony on the ground
with a 2-foot long ice axe embedded in his skull. He died at 05.25
BST on Saturday 30 July 2005. On 30 November 2005, Michael Barton
(17), the younger brother of Manchester City footballer Joey
Barton, was found guilty of murdering Anthony (Barton's cousin,
Paul Taylor (20), had earlier pleaded guilty to the same offence).
The following day, Mr Justice Leveson passed sentence on the two
men. "This was a racist attack of a type poisonous to any
civilised society," he said as he ruled that Taylor, who had
delivered the fatal blow, should be jailed for a minimum of 23
years and 8 months, and Barton, who had supplied the murder
weapon, must serve a minimum of 17 years and 8 months behind bars.
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