She was supposed to love him; instead, he ended up dead
David Corridon(Image: Liverpool Echo)Two sisters set about a sinister murder as they hired a career criminal who was the ex-partner of the older sibling in a bungled £35,000 robbery. David Corridon's ex-partner of 13 years, Maureen Smith, set the plot in motion after becoming “obsessively jealous” of relationships she suspected he was having with other women.The plan was to give him a "taste of his own medicine" after a fight they had in the street just a week earlier in February 2012. Through her sister, Kelly Smith, she was put in contact with dangerous criminal Tyrone Griffiths, who in turn hired Nicholas and Willis Nelson, two brothers who shared a history of committing armed robberies, to pull off the heist.Nicholas Nelson first attempted to burgle the house where cannabis dealer Mr Corridon lived with his mum and step dad, on New Hall Lane, Norris Green, during his grandmother's funeral but were chased off by a neighbour. This is when they decided to take the cash in an armed robbery.During the trial it was heard how, together with his brother and another man, they burst into the house at 4pm on February 27, while Mr Corridon, a kickboxer, was with fellow drug dealer Craig Wallace, who was upstairs, and a person who cannot be named.The three criminals knocked on the front door, and Mr Corridon went to answer. He was asked if ‘Joey’ was in, and the group then rushed into the house and attacked David Corridon in the hallway.Maureen Smith, 38, of Sir Howard Way, Toxteth(Image: Unknown)The three men then attacked Mr Corridon, asking him where his money was, with one saying: “If you don’t do it I will.” Mr Corridon was then subjected to a frenzied attack as they stabbed him six times. He was then dragged upstairs in a vain attempt to get him to tell him where his money was, but he died shortly after.A stolen silver BMW 1 Series was driven away from the scene and found burned out later that afternoon on Langtry Close, Kirkdale. Craig Wallace jumped out of an upstairs window, borrowed a man’s phone, and was “in a frantic state” as he rang 999.Tyrone Griffiths told detectives that Kelly Smith had contacted him weeks earlier and told him David Corridon kept £40,000 in his house and that there was “a graft there” meaning they could steal it.He said she told him David Corridon, who was a steroid user and kickboxer, went to the gym every day at 9am and would spend the rest of the day selling drugs so the house would be empty. Griffiths told detectives he “sent some lads” to burgle the house in the weeks before the murder, but they failed twice after being spotted by neighbours.He said he was in contact with Nicholas Nelson on the day of the killing but said he had been assured the house was empty and nothing had been mentioned about Maureen Smith falling out with Mr Corridon or being attacked by him in the street. Griffiths said that an hour after the raid, Kelly Smith called him screaming that David Corridon was dead.(Image: Unknown)He said he told Nicholas Nelson – who had previously told him he left Mr Corridon ‘in a bad way’ – and when he got the news Nelson’s ‘head fell apart’. He said they had planned to split the expected £40,000 haul but Nelson had only recovered £900 and some watches which he “lashed” after Mr Corridon died. Police later found £35,000 in the attic.All five appeared in Liverpool Crown Court where they denied murder and conspiracy to rob but were later found guilty in January 2013 following a three month trial.Mr Justice Spencer told Maureen Smith, the mum of David Corridon’s two children, that he accepted she still loved him but: “The line between love and hate can be very thin.”He added: “You bear a heavy responsibility both legal and moral for the death of David Corridon even though I accept it was the last thing you wanted to happen.Forensic officers at David Corridon's home on New Hall Lane, Norris Green“It was the result of events which you set into motion that your children have lost their father for ever.”Liverpool Crown Court heard during the trial that in July 2012, on what would have been Mr Corridon’s 33rd birthday, his family visited his grave in Anfield Cemetery, and his dad found birthday cards written by the sisters. Kelly Smith’s card read: “To my brother David. Happy birthday, godfather. I miss you so much it kills me. I pray to you every morning and night.“I’m so sorry for the way things have turned out. I never wanted this to happen. You are always in my heart.”Maureen Smith’s card read: “I think about you all the time. You are always on my mind. You are the love of my life.Tyrone Griffiths, of Hylton Road, Allerton, guilty of murder of David Corridon“Things are not the same without you. I wish I could send this card up to you. My heart is hurting without you. Love you lots, jelly tots.”David Corridon and Maureen Smith split towards the end of 2011 because he was “sick of the arguments”.Police probing the murder found a series of menacing texts sent by Smith to keep-fit fanatic Corridon just before the stabbing, which said: “I’ll never forgive you for this. I will tell my baby you are dead.”Further messages said: “It’s f**kin worth spending money to get you f**ked’. Drop dead. Watch yourself s**t bag, I ****ing mean it.”Mr Justice Spencer jailed Smith, of Sir Howard Way, Toxteth, for life and told her she must serve a minimum of 23 years before she can be considered for parole.Forensic officers at David Corridon's home on New Hall Lane, Norris GreenDrug dealer Tyrone Griffiths, of Hylton Road, Allerton, was found to be in possession of a .45 pistol and bullets when he was arrested. The court heard he had also been warned by police that his life was in danger from other gangsters because of his criminal activities.Mr Justice Spencer told him: “To you Tyrone Griffiths this was no more than a business matter. Burglary may not be your speciality but as you told the jury: crime is crime.“I have no doubt that stealing another drug dealer’s savings or working capital added to the attraction. The real motivation for your involvement was the lion’s share of £40,000 which you believed was in the attic.“In my judgement you are a ruthless, determined and dangerous criminal.”Willis Nelson, 31, of Locke Street, Garston(Image: Liverpool Echo)He jailed him for a minimum of 28 years. Nicholas Nelson, the court heard, was a paranoid schizophrenic with an IQ so low he was in the bottom 3% of the population. He met Tyrone Griffiths while in prison for carrying out an armed robbery on a security van and when he was released started doing errands for him, including being one of the men who entered David Corridon’s home armed with a knife.Mr Justice Spencer told him: “I cannot be sure it was you that stabbed David Corridon though I strongly suspect it was.”Nelson, of Vescock Street, Kirkdale, was jailed for a minimum of 28 years as was Willis Nelson, of Locke Street, Garston. As he was taken down Willis Nelson shouted: “There’s been an injustice here today! You sent an innocent man down! Innocent!”Finally, Kelly Smith, who grew cannabis in her home on Sir Howard Way, Toxteth, was jailed for a minimum of 22 years. She was told: “You saw this as a way of making some easy money. David Corridon’s generosity to you in the past meant nothingIn March 2018, the two sisters failed to convince top judges they were victims of a miscarriage of justice.The two Toxteth sisters appealed against their convictions at the High Court in London, claiming they had suffered a “substantial injustice.”Nicholas Nelson, of Vescock Street, Kirkdale, guilty of murder of David CorridonTheir barrister, Joel Bennathan QC, pointed out that Maureen had wanted to get back together with Mr Corridon, even placing a Valentine’s Day advert in the ECHO.She was desperate for a reconciliation, and that was hardly the action of someone who wanted him dead, said the barrister.But three Appeal Court judges disagreed today, ruling that there was nothing wrong with the sister’s “joint enterprise” murder convictions.Judges did accept that “neither Maureen nor Kelly may have wished his death.”But Sir Brian Leveson added: “The attackers deliberately went armed to rob a man whom they knew would, or was very likely to, defend himself vigorously.“The only inference which the jury must have drawn from the threatening texts and messages to the deceased was that Maureen and Kelly were part of the joint enterprise that force would be used and that weapons, knives or similar, deployed.”Refusing the sisters’ appeals, Sir Brian, who was sitting with two other senior judges, concluded: “We reject Mr Bennathan’s submission that the circumstances reveal substantial injustice in this case.”
