Man who ordered fatal shooting of young dad jailed

A man has been jailed for life after ordering the fatal shooting of a young father who was killed in a case of mistaken identity.

Nineteen-year-old Kevin Pokuta was shot in the head while sitting in a car in Page Hall Road, Sheffield, on 12 December 2023, after becoming the unintended target of a revenge attack, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Ethan Hallows, 25, of Oxford Street, Sheffield, had denied murder but was found guilty following a trial.

Sentencing him to a minimum term of 32 years and 101 days, the judge told him: "You will serve at least the entirety of your minimum term, and it may well be that you will spend the remainder of your life in prison."

Hallows had also been found guilty of conspiracy to rob, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Following the shooting, Hallows fled the country with the help of his girlfriend Paris Askew.

Askew, 23, of Griffiths Road, Sheffield, was found guilty of assisting an offender and jailed for three years.

The court heard Hallows and his associates, including Derice Cohan and Jake Brown, went to a property in Page Hall Road with the intention of stealing cannabis on 11 December 2023.

However, their robbery attempt failed when someone drove at Cohan.

The gang left the scene "to regroup" but returned a short time later, at 00:30 GMT on 12 December.

Hallows then erroneously pointed out a car he thought had been the one driving at Cohan and Brown shot at the car four times, killing Pokuta on his last shot.

"He [Brown] executed what you had directed," the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told Hallows.

"It is clear that both you and Jake Brown thought the Skoda motor car was the car which had been involved in the earlier precursor incident. Both you and he were wrong."

Judge Richardson said the car contained Pokuta and his brother who "had nothing whatever to do with the drug farm".

On 13 December 2023, footage showed Hallows being dropped off at Manchester Airport, where he boarded a flight to Dubai.

Sean Sullivan, for Askew, argued that there was no evidence to suggest his client had any knowledge of the seriousness of her partner's offending when she helped him leave the country.

Judge Richardson rejected this, stating that screenshots she shared with Hallows showing South Yorkshire Police's progress with the murder investigation evidenced she "knew full well what all this was about".

Askew also shared screenshots of internet searches she had carried out to identify countries that do not have extradition agreements with the UK.

Hallows was arrested when he flew back to England in May last year, months after his co-conspirators had faced a trial.

In December 2024, Brown was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years, while three other men and a teenage boy were convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Andrew Jones KC, mitigating for Hallows, said his client had grown up with a violent father and had spent 10 years of his life in care.

Hallows, who has previous convictions for violent offences, including assaulting a police officer, and drug offences, had also struggled with drug abuse.

Passing sentence, the judge told him: "I am not prepared to say the murder was part of an elaborate plan, for it was not, but it was, however, orchestrated for revenge for the earlier thwarted robbery.

"It was organised criminal activity."

The court heard Pokuta and his family had moved from Slovakia to the UK "for a better and safer life".

In a statement read out on behalf of the family, they said his father "overwhelmed with grief" died in April 2024.

Pokuta's son and daughter were two years old and four months old respectively when he was killed.

"Kevin's son celebrated his third birthday, blowing out candles at his father's graveside. No child should have to do that," the statement said.

"Kevin will never get to see his children grow up, he never got to see his daughter's first steps or hear her first words."

They described him as a "shy family man" who "would make us laugh so much" and said his death had been "devastating".

"Kevin will be loved and missed by us forever."

Following the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Tom Woodward, from South Yorkshire Police, said the force would continue "our hunt" for others responsible for Pokuta's death.

"Let this be a reminder that we will not stop until we arrest and prosecute those who choose to bring gun violence to our streets," he said.

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