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Moment knifeman stands over victim and stabs him repeatedly – after he was freed from jail early following previous fatal knifing just 10 minutes away
Reece Williams, 30, has been sentenced to life in prison after repeatedly stabbing Shaquille Coote in an unprovoked eight-second attack in King’s Cross. The case has renewed attention on Williams’s earlier conviction for a fatal stabbing and his early release from prison.
Coote, 27, suffered life-changing injuries in the September 2025 attack and was left at the scene; Williams’s brother Darrell drove him away and was jailed for at least eight years. CCTV helped identify the brothers, who admitted grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife. Williams had been jailed for 12 years for the 2018 manslaughter of 20-year-old Marcel Campbell, about a ten-minute walk away, and was released early; his new life sentence has a minimum term of 12 years.
In short
- Reece Williams received a life sentence for the 2025 stabbing.
- His victim suffered life-changing injuries in an eight-second attack.
- Williams had been released early after a 2018 manslaughter sentence.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case may support calls to reassess early release and how risk is managed after serious violent convictions. Where someone previously convicted in a fatal stabbing later commits another grave knife attack, the public can reasonably ask whether release decisions and supervision gave sufficient weight to protecting others and preventing repeat harm.
The case against
One horrific reoffence does not by itself show that early release policy generally fails or that this particular release decision was unreasonable on the information available at the time. Sentence and release decisions must follow consistent rules, account for rehabilitation and evidence of risk, and avoid treating a past conviction as proof that someone will offend again.