The jealous lover who left his stabbed boyfriend to bleed to death after reading Grindr messages
Aaron Ray, who was once in court for knifing a pet bird to death, was jailed for life for killing Northumbria University undergraduate Jason Brockbanks at his city centre digs
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveAfter stabbing his boyfriend in a jealous rage, cold-hearted killer Adam Ray calmly walked away listening to to music as his victim slowly bled to death.
Tragically, student Jason Brockbanks could have survived the knife attack at his halls of residence, had Ray called for help. But instead the killer set about covering his tracks, researching whether he could get away with murder by claiming to be schizophrenic.
But Ray, who launched his deadly assault after finding messages from other men on Jason's phone, was convicted of murdering 24-year-old Jason and jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years. And today, two years on from his horrific crime, we take a look at how Ray, who had previously been in court for stabbing a pet bird, went from animal abuser to callous killer.
Jason, from Whitehaven in Cumbria, had a bright future ahead of him when he moved to Newcastle to study at Northumbria University. Friends described him as a "quiet" and "harmless" lad who always saw the best in everyone. In contrast Ray was a jealous angry young man, who had already been in court for stabbing his family's pet bird, and had previously been verbally abusive to former partners.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Jason and Ray, who had been in a relationship at the time had enjoyed a night out on Newcastle's gay scene in the hours before the September 2022 attack, before making their way back to Jason's flat at Mansion Tyne, on Howard Street, on the outskirts of the city centre. After Jason fell asleep in bed Ray took Jason's phone into the bathroom and recorded himself scrolling through messages between Jason and other men on the dating app Grindr, the court was told.
Moments later, he took a knife from the kitchen and slashed Jason's back before stabbing him in the side. The court heard Ray then got his things together, put his headphones around his neck, washed Jason’s blood off the knife and returned it to the communal kitchen before leaving the flats. CCTV captured him with his headphones on listening to music as he walked away.
Jason fell onto the floor after he was stabbed and the duvet fell onto his phone, meaning he had no way of calling for help. He ended up falling into his shower cubicle where he bled to death. Jason's body was not found for three days.
After the murder, Ray, of Mayfield Road, Sunderland, did a Google search for “can schizophrenics be murderers”.
In sentencing Ray the judge, Mr Justice Martin Spencer said: “You are deceitful, dishonest and when drunk, highly dangerous. Any regret you have expressed for Jason's death has been false and motivated only by your self-interest. There has been no shadow of remorse.”
Jason's heartbroken dad, Christopher, bravely went into the witness box to outline the impact his son's death has had and how the manner of it haunts the family.
Mr Brockbanks said: “For 24 years we had the privilege of being Jason’s parents. He was a loving and gentle soul who shied away from confrontation and hated violence. He was a talented young man who had so many dreams to realise. We will miss his laughter, infection smile and his love.
“There is a void in our lives that can never be filled and the pain we feel will never leave us. Our lives will never be the same and and not a day goes by when we don’t feel Jason’s loss. We have had so many difficult and tearful days and we know there are so many more to come.
“We miss Jason so very much. We are devastated and heartbroken that Jason was cruelly and senselessly taken from us. We will never be able to accept the manner of his death or be able to forgive the defendant, who has not shown an ounce of remorse through this trial.
“Instead our family had to relive every moment of Jason’s brutal murder and listen to the defendant’s lies. We know he died slowly and this will haunt us for the rest of our lives. And to hear his death was possibly avoidable if assistance had been sought is truly heartbreaking for us.
“We believe Jason spent his last moments looking for his mobile phone to call for help but he was unable to find it due to the defendant having been the last person to use it.
“We will never comprehend how a human being could walk away from Jason lying injured in his room in such a cruel and callous manner. We will never forgive or forget the manner of Jason’s death.”
And Jason's childhood friend, Tyler Burns, told ChronicleLive of his belief that Jason would have been defenceless against his cruel killer.
He said: "The lad was harmless. The only thing I can think of is I bet he was so scared. He must have been absolutely petrified at that moment. It's hard to think about. He wouldn't have tried to fight back. "It shouldn't have happened to him. He was such a lovely person. Jason was totally innocent. He really didn't deserve it. He definitely didn't have to die. Ray knew what had happened but just thought 'I'm going to cover my own tracks."
Another friend, Amy Dobson, added: "He would have seen the best in Aaron Ray and he would have trusted him. He was so quiet and he cared so much about other people some people did take advantage of him. I can never imagine him doing anything to upset him. He always put other people first and he loved to learn about other people, he was a real people person."
During Ray's trial his former partner, Jonathan Stokoe, told how Ray had video-called him the morning after the attack wearing a balaclava and sunglasses. He said Ray told him Jason had threatened him with a knife and he took it off him, put it down and left.
Asked about his own experience with Ray, Mr Stokoe said that during a holiday to Benidorm he was woken by Ray shouting at him and saying he had seen messages on his phone from other men. Their relationship ended soon after. Mr Stokoe then reported Ray to police for posting an offensive picture of him on Facebook. Mr Stokoe said he later challenged Ray about it and he denied doing it and they argued on the phone.
Mr Stokoe said he blocked Ray but he continued to call him from a withheld number. He said: "I got verbal abuse from him, calling me a fat ****. It was pretty horrible." He said there later came a time when they were back in touch and said Ray admitted hacking his Facebook account but blamed him for cheating.
Mr Stokoe said he had three missed calls from Ray the morning after the murder and then got a Facetime call from him, in which he was wearing a balaclava and sunglasses and was in bed. Mr Stokoe said: "He said he had an argument with Jason that night and that's why he was calling. He said he found messages of Jason being in brothels and talking to other men. He said he found them on his phone. He said that Jason threatened him with a knife. Aaron said he grabbed it off Jason, told him to back off, put it down then he said he left."
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He said Ray was alcohol dependent and he wanted him to get help. He said he also suggested to him he might by psychotic and questioned if he had schizophrenia but he denied it.
Chillingly there had been predictions that Aaron Ray would one day become a murderer before he killed Jason. There was outrage when he was handed a suspended sentence after being convicted of inflicting horrific cruelty the bird.
South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard how Ray, who was just 18 at the time, left the cockatiel with fatal injuries after plunging a knife into the back of its neck during a fit of rage. Police found the the dead animal after being called to a disturbance at a home in Sunderland. And when quizzed by officers, Ray told them “it’s just a bird, it’s not a crime".
Ray was handed a 12-week prison sentence suspended for a year and banned from keeping animals for 15 years. The sentence sparked fury among Chronicle readers with some predicting that Ray's treatment of the bird suggested he was not safe to walk the streets. And some comments on Facebook chillingly predicted what the future would hold for Ray.
Ian King wrote: "Future domestic violence offender, and murderer. Horrible animal."
While Doreen Turnbull posted: "If he did this to a bird. I dread to think what he would do to anyone or animals who upsets him. Not fit to walk the streets. Lock him up and throw away the key."
David Fawcett said: "This kid is a killer in the making."
And Louise Davidson added: "Animals now humans as he gets older."
Calling for animal abusers like Ray to be locked up Lorna Davidson wrote: "Why do these cretins not get jail sentences although that option is there. The courts need to start taking this behaviour seriously and start dishing out custodial sentences."
And Judy Longfellow said: "Because the judiciary service is so lacking in common sense, I can see something really dreadful occurring in the future. He definitely needs some kind of help soon. There are far too many incidents happening when they could possibly be avoided if more had been done when these people come to the law's attention."