A community that united in courage.

Byline: ANDREW PAIN

A COMMUNITY stood up to be counted when the tragedy of Ron Sharples' death on New Year's Day came to light.

Acting Detective Inspector Nick Owen said only the willingness of witnesses to give their accounts of the sustained violent attack on Mr Sharples led to the convictions of his two teenage killers.

The then 17-year-olds Scott Fullam and Declan Appleby handed themselves in at Kirkleatham Police Station at around 6pm later that day admitting to have been involved in an altercation.

Both were cautioned and arrested.

The pair denied murder and told officers Mr Sharples was the aggressor. Police investigations quickly ruled out this assertion.

"From the outset it seemed unlikely," said Det Insp Owen. He said there were several hundred people at Mr Sharples' funeral and it became apparent he "was a well loved, well respected, sociable, family man who had never come to the police's attention." He said: "Ronnie has never been known to have a fight in his life. He was a very gentle man at the heart of the family. To suggest he was an aggressor in this situation simply doesn't fit." The case against Appleby and Fullam rested on whether the two had launched the attack on the 52-year-old father-of-two as a "joint enterprise".

Police had to gather enough evidence from witnesses to build up a case.

From the outset officers faced difficulties due to the time of year the attack took place - the early hours of New Year's Day.

Many key witnesses had spent the evening celebrating and had viewed the incident "through the prism of drink" as prosecutor Jeremy Richardson QC put it.

This meant accounts varied from witness to witness but when put together they added up to a damning case for Appleby and Fullam.

Det Insp Owen said: "One of the important parts of this case is the massive witness testimony that we had. People who were willing to stand up in court and say what they saw.

"All those people were decent and good people traumatised by what they had witnessed.

"Despite their fears they were willing and brave enough to come to court and recount the evening's events. They have made the difference in this case.

"If people are willing to stand up and be counted the British justice system can and does work." The detective reserved special praise for the family of Mr Sharples.

"The Sharples family have maintained their dignity throughout the whole inquiry," he said.

"They are a very nice family who are well known and respected in the Marske area who we found a pleasure to work with throughout the whole inquiry which has been very harrowing for them. They have been exemplary and I would like to thank them for that." Det Insp Owen also admitted that despite maintaining their professionalism throughout the inquiry, his team had found the case a heart-rending story. "It has struck a chord with the entire inquiry team because it was immediately apparent that Ronnie and his family are the sort of people you would be happy to live next door," said the detective.

"They are a nice, ordinary family who have suffered a terrible, traumatic incident that they will never get over."

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MASSIVE WITNESS INPUT: Acting Det Insp Nick Owen praised people's willingness to come forward and the dignity of the family Picture by PETER REIMANN