By Amy Walker
The family of Thomas Campbell have paid tribute to their beloved son, brother and father, as a ‘cheeky chap’ who was always smiling. Mr Campbell was ‘tortured to death’ in his own home on the night of July 2, 2022. John Belfield, 31, recruited a team to help him kill Mr Campbell after he began a relationship with Demi-Lee Driver, his killer’s ex-partner, a court heard. Manchester Crown Court heard the killing followed a week of surveillance carried out on 38-year-old Mr Campbell by Belfield and his conspirators. A tracking device was previously placed on Mr Campbell’s car. When the gang struck, Campbell could be heard to scream as they attacked and subdued him on his front drive, before bundling him inside the house on Riverside in Mossley, Tameside . For the next two hours he was stabbed, strangled and had hot liquid poured on his genitals. Prosecutors said he was ‘tortured to death’, having suffered 61 separate injuries. A huge murder investigation was launched, which shockingly revealed that Campbell’s ex-wife had been in on the plot. Coleen Campbell had fed her former spouse’s killers vital information about his whereabouts. Coleen Campbell was found guilty of manslaughter following a trial in 2023, for her role in the horrendous plot. Reece Steven, who Belfield recruited into the crime, and was one of the three attackers to kill Thomas Campbell, was found guilty of murder. Stephen Cleworth, who Belfield also recruited and planted the tracking device on Campbell’s car, was convicted of manslaughter. He was not present at the scene as he was on a ‘bender’ at a swinger’s club. The trio were all also convicted of conspiring to rob Thomas Campbell. The third attacker who formed part of the group who attacked Campbell remains unknown and is wanted by police. Coleen Campbell, Steven and Cleworth were all jailed in 2023. But Belfield evaded police and fled the country two days after the murder. He fled to Suriname, in South America, but was arrested in March 2023 and eventually flown back to Manchester a year later. After being found guilty of murder and conspiracy to rob, Belfield was jailed for life to serve a minimum term of 34 years and 261 days. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard a powerful victim impact statement from Mr Campbell’s dad, Terry Campbell. The full statement reads: “I am making this victim impact statement as the father of Thomas Campbell, on behalf of his mother Lynne, his siblings and his children, who all miss him immeasurably. “I’m not going to waste words defending Thomas’ lifestyle, that’s for others to judge. I want to speak about my son Thomas, who has been referred to as the victim and the deceased throughout the trial, as a human being. “I want to tell you about the true person that was Thomas. A son, a loving father and a good friend. “Thomas’ mother and I met in 1975, when we both worked on a fairground. Lynne was a cashier, and I operated rides. Thomas was one of five children, and was my youngest son. “Thomas was a natural birth, and weighed only 6 lb12. He had a full head of naturally curly fair hair. He was a beautiful baby, and he was adored by his elder brothers and sister. They had a close bond, which continued through to adulthood. “Growing up Thomas was a cheeky chap, and he was known for his politeness and his good heart. It’s hard to find a photograph of Thomas where he isn’t smiling, and he brought light into every room. He started Ravensbury Primary School where he settled brilliantly and was popular. “He was mischievous, and in 1993 when he was aged 10 he accidentally caused a fire in the family home by spraying hairspray near the Christmas tree and subsequently experimenting with a lighter. This is a vivid memory for us as a family, as we had to move out of the family home whilst it was repaired. “Another memory is when Thomas gave us the fright of our lives and went missing – we phoned the police, only to discover he had in fact just fallen asleep under his bed. “Thomas was a healthy child, and the only concern for him was his speech – he attended elocution lessons. We later learned that Thomas just spoke too fast earning him his nickname “electric lips” from his grandmother – in keeping with his bubbly personality. He was always laughing and smiling. Thomas went to Wright Robinson high school, where again he settled and had plenty of friends. He was a polite young man, who was always popular. “We moved into our current family home in 2002. Myself, Lynne and our daughter still are. There are memories of Thomas there too, which will always stay with us. Every day, Thomas would ring after the gym for me to make his breakfast and start his call the way he usually would, saying “I’m only ringing, what it is is..”. I no longer get that phone call, and it’s just one of the many things we miss. “Thomas is the father of two children who he doted on. His son is now 15 years old, and his daughter is 10. As I look at my grandchildren, although it is a beautiful time when we are together, there is a thought in the back of my mind about the reality for them when they have to face this pain themselves, and learn of the reality of what happened to their dad who they adore. “My wife Lynne now weighs 6 stone. Lynne doesn’t really leave the house, has pre-COPD which is due to stress, resulting in her barely eating and constantly smoking. I put the reason for my wife’s decline, squarely on the shoulders of those responsible for Thomas’ death. Thomas would always visit Lynne, his mum, and bring her gifts. He would bring her and his daughter flowers each Valentines day, a tradition that has now been carried on by my other son. Lynne now lives with a broken heart, as do the rest of the family. No parent should out-live their children. “Not only was Thomas kind to his family, but his kindness also stretched into the community. If anybody needed anything, Thomas would be there. He would fill his van with children’s toys to drop off to the local nursery. “His funeral had over 1000 people in attendance and there was a community balloon release. The procession stopped to have a jagerbomb, which we now call “jager-toms” as it was what he liked to drink. We didn’t have a minute’s silence during the service to reflect on Thomas’s personality, his friend Macca asked we have a minute’s round of applause which was so moving. “It’s been so hard to endure the mockery of Thomas between those responsible for him no longer being here. The only context where ‘soft boy’ would come into play is in the way he treated his family and friends. On the topic of friends, none of the people concerned in this trial were friends of Thomas. I have heard time and time again the phrase “I know him really well”. I can say with confidence that that simply isn’t true. “There are no words to describe how we feel, all we can do to the best of our ability is use this opportunity to try and put across just what Thomas meant to us, and our family, and who he was aside from what people read. “Nobody will ever know, unless they suffer circumstances like this themselves, how we truly feel, and there are no phrases to describe the impact the loss of Thomas has had and will always have. “I will always treasure the time we had with my son, going on fishing trips and family holidays. Memories I will always keep close to my heart and memories that can’t be taken away by anybody.”