Overview

• On July 4 at Manchester Crown Court, Draper was sentenced to an 11-year term for the fatal stabbing of neighbour Jack O’Brien.
• The jury cleared him of murder but convicted him of manslaughter after finding his force disproportionate to any threat.
• Prosecutors detailed Draper’s intoxication on crack cocaine and heroin during the attack and his attempts to destroy the knife and wash clothing afterwards.
• Draper claimed he was defending himself against O’Brien and his visitors who he said tried to enter his flat to ‘tax’ his drugs.
• Greater Manchester Police and Jack’s mother voiced that while the sentence delivers accountability, it cannot erase the family’s grief.