A mother and daughter who assisted a killer by harbouring him in their home for five weeks have been jailed.
Murder victim Ricardo Cotteral was ambushed by Malcolm Francis, Daniel Francis and Richard Anderson in Broad Street, in the Hockley area of Nottingham, in April 2022.
The Nottingham dad, who was 33, ran down the street after being stabbed but was chased and attacked again, dying on the pavement.
The Francis brothers and Anderson were convicted of murder, along with getaway driver Ijah Lavelle Moore, in 2023.
Now, three people have been sentenced for assisting an offender, while a fourth person will be sentenced later this month.
Elisha Faulkner and her mother, Julie Faulkner, who both entered guilty pleas after harbouring Malcolm Francis after the murder, were jailed yesterday (2 March) at Nottingham Crown Court.
Elisha, 30, of Chudleigh Road, Birmingham, was jailed for three years, while her 64-year-old mother, of the same address, was imprisoned for two and a half years.
They were sentenced alongside Kimberley Tomlinson, who was found guilty of assisting an offender following a lengthy trial at Nottingham Crown Court. The 31-year-old, of Olton Avenue, Nottingham, was jailed for two years, suspended for two years.
Julian McDonald, 35, of Thurcaston Road, Leicester, was also found guilty at trial and will be sentenced at a later date.
The trial heard that, in the aftermath of the fatal attack, the defendants provided assistance to Mr Cotteral’s killers despite knowing or believing they were involved in the murder.
Jurors heard Malcolm Francis, who dealt the fatal blow, stayed with Kimberley Tomlinson overnight and left his vehicle at her address, where it was concealed with a car cover. McDonald helped with the next phase for the Francis brothers as plans were formulated for them to escape to Jamaica.
The trial lasted more than three months and included a plethora of evidence compiled by Nottinghamshire Police detectives, including complex analysis of phone data and ANPR evidence.
The jury heard Tomlinson was pregnant with Malcolm Francis’ child at the time of the murder. Following the fatal attack on Mr Cotteral, Malcolm Francis, his brother Daniel, and Lavelle Moore went to her address in Beeston. Lavelle Moore and Daniel Francis left that same evening, with Malcolm Francis staying overnight. He was then picked up by McDonald the following day. The car he had fled the murder scene in was left parked outside her home.
At the time of these events, Tomlinson was nearing the time for their baby to be born, and she gave birth just the day after the murder.
The court heard that, instead of being focused on her new baby, while in hospital she was busy searching on the internet for car covers. She went on to purchase a car cover from Argos and collected this item following her discharge from hospital. She took it home and used it to try to conceal the car which Malcolm Francis had parked outside her home so he could avoid being detected by the police.
Ricardo Cotteral’s killers were jailed in 2023
The morning after the murder, McDonald picked up Malcolm Francis from Tomlinson’s address and drove him to an address on Sherwin Street, Derby. It was at that location that a “business meeting” took place, which discussed how Daniel and Malcolm Francis could leave the area and evade arrest.
McDonald then drove Daniel and Malcolm Francis to his home address in Leicester, where arrangements were made to deposit some money into an account to which both Francis brothers had access.
McDonald then arranged for a taxi to transport the Francis brothers to London, where they purchased flights to Jamaica.
In the event, they did not board their plane to Jamaica. An associate instead collected them from a train station and took them back to a London address. It was from there that Daniel Francis was tracked down and arrested.
By this time, Malcolm Francis had been picked up by Elisha Faulkner, who the court heard was romantically linked to him. She collected him from a London address and took him to her own mother’s address, from where he was ultimately arrested. Up until that time, Elisha Faulkner and her mother, Julie Faulkner, provided him with food and accommodation.
Murder victim Ricardo Cotteral was 33 when he died
Following the sentencings, Detective Chief Inspector Clare Dean, who oversaw the investigation, said:
“I hope these sentences bring Ricardo’s family some sense of further closure.
“These defendants tried to help these brutal murderers evade justice, so I am pleased they have now been punished for their crimes and have time to reflect on the consequences of their actions.
“Ricardo’s family has remained calm and dignified throughout our extensive investigation, and our thoughts remain with them.
“I would also like to pay tribute to our investigation team, whose hard work ultimately helped secure convictions and significant sentences in this tragic case.”
