The Tragic Death of Darren Kelly

Darren Kelly, aged 42, resided in Voysey Gardens, a small town located outside Basildon in Essex, England, where he worked as a lorry driver. He had a daughter named Zoe who was 20 years old. Zoe had been living with her father for 15 years, even after her parent's separation, but they didn't live far apart and frequently had conversations to stay in touch.

Darren was looking forward to finding a special person with whom he could settle down, but he had also come across the pleasures of online dating services, which allowed him to frequently meet new women. While some individuals utilize dating applications like Tinder and Bumble for casual flings, he was no exception.

Despite already having found the woman he wanted to spend his life with, Darren still found himself using the dating app frequently. He had plans to sell his house soon and move to Kent with his girlfriend and her children. However, he couldn't seem to break his addiction to online dating, as it can be a powerful temptation for some people.

 

That fateful evening

Darren Kelly had arranged to meet a woman he had connected with on the dating app under the name "Chocolate Bourbon" on the evening of October 15, 2015. However, after arriving at the agreed-upon location, which was a school, he quickly realized that he was in an unforeseen and hazardous situation.

He was surprised to be greeted by a 15-year-old girl rather than the adult he had hoped to hook up with. The girl, then 15 years old, was the “Chocolate Bourbon” he’d been corresponding with.

Out of nowhere, a 21-year-old man and two other young individuals emerged from the nearby bushes. Darren was caught off guard and had no idea that the 15-year-old girl he had arranged to meet, along with the others, had a habit of luring older men they suspected of preying on teenage girls in the area and then attacking them. He had been under the impression that he would be meeting the girl's mother instead.

As soon as he arrived, the 21-year-old man named Chris Carroll started behaving aggressively towards Darren, even going so far as to slash the tires on his car in an attempt to prevent him from escaping. The others then began physically assaulting him, hitting and kicking him repeatedly. 

Fearing for his safety, Darren quickly turned and ran away, with his attackers in pursuit. However, a concerned bystander intervened when they all ran down the alley, demanding to know what was happening. Chris Carroll responded by falsely accusing Darren of being a pedophile.

Due to the narrow layout of the residential streets in Pitsea, Darren found it challenging to evade his attackers. Within moments, they had him cornered, and despite his attempts to flee, he was overpowered and subjected to a brutal beating of kicks and punches. Chris Carroll ordered the others to stand down, taking charge of the assault himself. He then proceeded to stab Darren while he lay defenseless on the ground.

Aftermath

Following the vicious assault, the gang quickly dispersed, leaving Darren lying unconscious in the alley behind the apartment complex. Despite his injuries, Darren summoned all his strength to get back on his feet and make his way toward the front of the building. Once there, he frantically pressed as many buzzers as possible, desperately hoping that someone would hear his cries for help and come to his aid.

When a resident finally answered the buzzer, Darren urgently pleaded for help, gasping out the words, "I've been stabbed."
The neighbor recounted what happened that evening.

“I rushed down with the woman who lives below me, who is a paramedic. He was covered in blood, and there was a trail of blood along the street. He’d been stabbed in the side and arm. I cut his clothes off while she tried to treat him.”

After the emergency medical services and an air ambulance arrived, Darren was swiftly taken to Basildon Hospital for specialized treatment. Tragically, he had sustained six stab wounds, including two to his lungs, which were severe. Despite the valiant efforts of the medical professionals, Darren succumbed to his injuries later that night. He was just 42 years old at the time of his untimely death.

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The police had no difficulty in identifying and arresting the vigilante group responsible for Darren's murder, given the presence of numerous eyewitnesses at the scene. Following the attack, the teenagers returned to Chris Carroll's father's house in Pitsea, where they calmly shared pizza and discussed the night's events.

Later on, Carroll disposed of his bloodstained sweatshirt by discarding it in a recycling bin, and he also threw the hunting knife used in the stabbing into a nearby lake.

Upon discovering the knife used to slash Darren's car tires and prevent his escape, the police quickly realized that it was the same weapon used to fatally stab him. Following news of the incident spreading throughout the town, the parents of the two teenage boys involved in the vigilante group turned them over to the authorities.

The police later visited Chris Carroll's home, where he was in the company of the 15-year-old girl who had arranged the meeting with Darren. Carroll made a futile attempt to flee, while the girl's defense when questioned by the police was simply, "Do I look like a murderer?"

When questioned, Carroll denied stabbing anyone, but he did admit to hitting Darren. He claimed he wasn't present during the stabbing and that the two 17-year-old boys were the ones who chased after Darren. Carroll stated that he only found out about the knife after the 15-year-old girl gave it to him and told him to dispose of it.

During questioning, the 15-year-old girl, who went by the name Chocolate Bourbon on the app, revealed that this wasn't her first time setting up a meeting with an older man to have him arrested. She had done it twice before. When asked why, she explained that she believed that perverts shouldn't be allowed to freely roam about and wanted them to be punished.

 “I don’t see anyone else doing anything about it.”

In March 2014, when she was 14 years old, the 15-year-old girl set up her first meeting with an older man, a 23-year-old with whom she had engaged in sexually explicit conversations. During these conversations, the man expressed his desire to rape the girl, prompting her to contact the police. The man was subsequently arrested for alleged sexual grooming.

In May 2015, the girl received a friend request and message on Facebook from a 67-year-old man. Initially, she lied about her age, claiming to be 25. However, as their online friendship progressed, the man's messages became increasingly sexual in nature. Eventually, the girl agreed to meet him, with the man assuming the meeting was for sexual purposes.

Upon arriving at the designated meeting spot, the older man was confronted by the teenager and her friend, who berated him and accused him of inappropriately meeting young females online. The altercation attracted the attention of nearby shoppers, who called the police. The man was subsequently arrested.

Despite being warned by the police not to take matters into her own hands after the second incident, the 15-year-old girl chose to disregard their advice and take action once more.
In the text messages exchanged between Chris Carroll, the 21-year-old who stabbed Darren, and the 15-year-old girl, it was evident that Carroll had developed strong feelings for her. This was exemplified by the following message:

“I know you’re not ready for a relationship, but I’m gonna wait for you. I’m not gonna quit until you are mine.”

 

Upon examining Darren's electronic devices, no evidence of sexual or indecent material, including any interest in minors, was found. On the contrary, it was discovered that he had been chatting with a 22-year-old, but ended the conversation abruptly, expressing his desire to meet someone older instead.

The teenage girl who arranged the meeting with Darren admitted to using a dating app, but Darren's phone, which he used for communication, was missing. When the police took the girl into custody, they obtained her locked iPad Mini.

She provided the passcode, and upon searching the device, they found that she had deleted the app that she used to communicate with Darren. Only two messages, sent to Chris Carroll, were recovered. 
The police concluded that Darren was under the impression he was meeting the girl's mother and had no interest in minors. Furthermore, the girl's actions suggested that she had purposely misled Darren.

During the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. The defense presented a plan to demonstrate that Darren was a pedophile. They described how Darren had allegedly stated that all the girls on the dating app were young, and how he had complained that they stopped talking to him when they found out his age.

As a result, the defense claimed that Darren occasionally posted photos of individuals who were not him and were of a different age.

The defense lawyer argued that Darren was a pedophile, claiming that he had expressed interest in young girls on the dating app and had even posted photos of other people to appear younger. The lawyer also alleged that Darren knew he was meeting a 15-year-old girl instead of her mother, and that he had walked past the girl before returning to speak with her, indicating that he was aware of her age.

However, the prosecution disproved these claims and vigorously argued that there was no evidence of Darren's interest in connecting with young girls. On the contrary, all indications pointed to his genuine interest in women in their forties and older.

After six weeks of deliberation, the twelve jurors unanimously decided that 21-year-old Chris Carroll was solely responsible for the brutal murder. The other three teenagers were acquitted of murder as they convinced the jury that they had no knowledge of Chris Carroll possessing a knife.

Due to their young ages, these teenagers were not identified and released from court without any further consequences, free to carry on with their lives.

Carroll reacted with a smile and a slow head shake when he was sentenced, seemingly unable to accept it. The judge handed him a life sentence, with a minimum of 21 years before he could be considered for release. In his remarks, the judge highlighted how Darren, wrongly accused of being a pedophile, was led to his death by a contemporary lynching party.

Carroll remained impassive as he received his sentence, but he gave his loved ones a thumbs-up as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

Darren’s family statements

After the trial, Darren’s family released a statement expressing their disappointment with Chris Carroll's apparent lack of remorse. They highlighted the atrocity of his actions that night and how he showed no remorse for his actions in court. They also mentioned how Darren's daughter not only lost a parent but also a friend.

Zoe, Darren’s 21-year-old daughter, addressed the media after the trial and opened up about the impact her father’s death had on her. She said,

“These last several months have been the worst times of my life, consumed by despair, rage, and anguish.”

Zoe expressed her outrage that the other members of the gang were not charged with lower charges and were released, while Carroll was the only one held responsible for her father's death.

Even though they admitted to attacking Darren during the trial, she was upset that they weren't given harsher charges and were allowed to go free, except for Carroll.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. It makes me incredibly angry. To think they’re out there freely walking around the streets, just not far away from my house. It’s an immense sense of injustice, only having one behind bars. The girl who organized it has got a waste scot-free, which leaves me with a very bitter taste in my mouth.”

Zoe was upset and lost trust in the justice system after the not-guilty verdicts were announced. She felt sick to her stomach knowing that the two attackers received no punishment, while Carroll was held accountable. She expressed disappointment that the girl and the other two youths were able to walk free.

Adding to her distress, Zoe reported that one of the attackers even stuck their tongue out at her as they left the court. However, her main anger was directed towards the 15-year-old girl who had arranged the meeting with Darren on the night he was killed.

Zoe expressed her anger towards the 15-year-old girl who arranged to meet her father, stating that there was no evidence of his interest in underage girls. She mentioned that the girl had deleted their online conversations and was lying about his intentions. Despite most people seeing through her lies, there were some who believed her without knowing anything about her father. 

Zoe added that the girl had posed as an older person before and was warned by the police and social services against doing it again. She believed that if it weren't for the girl, her father would still be alive, and none of the others would have been involved.

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