David Ford murder: Wife speaks of horror of losing husband of 40 years who was murdered by a stranger as he set off on a fishing trip

David Ford and his son Ryan were loading angling gear into their car at David’s house in Sheffield when they were approached by Jermaine Richards, 31.

An altercation between them ended up with David being killed by his own car after Richards stole it and ran him over and Ryan left seriously injured after being punched and kicked.

Richards was found guilty of murdering David and assaulting Ryan in March and has now been given a 26-year prison term at Sheffield Crown Court.

The father and son, one of David’s four children, were on a regular weekend fishing trip on September 3 last year when Richards demanded they give him a lift. They refused to drive him anywhere and Ryan was punched in the face.

Richards then demanded that another man passing drove him away, but then got out of the car and beat both Fords to the ground. He then took David’s car, drove several hundred yards away, ran him over and fled the scene.

Richards was caught after he got into an argument with the occupant of a house he had driven to.

David’s wife of 42 years said: “Dave’s shoes are still on my doormat at home and his coat is hung up by the front door. I cannot move them because if I did so I would have to accept that he is gone. I cannot do this.

“If he was ill and died I could accept this, but the fact he went out fishing one day and never came home has caused such a shock to me that I cannot accept it.

“The hard thing is that Dave did not die because of natural causes, he died because of the decisions made by Jermaine Richards.

“I will never forget sitting in the family room in the Accident & Emergency ward of the Northern General Hospital and being told that Dave had died and Ryan was injured. In the proceeding days I had to go to the mortuary and identify Dave’s body.

“I met Dave when I was 16 years old and we were married for 42 years. We have four children together, one of whom is Ryan. We also have a grandson. We used to do everything together - Dave was me and I was Dave. It was hard to see where one of us started and the other one ended. We have always been a team who have supported each other through life’s journey. I no longer have this support.

“Dave doted on his family and was with his children every day, even as they made their way into adulthood. Some of them still lived with us and he would always be on-hand to assist them by giving them lifts to and from work. The love of their dad has been taken from them.

“He was also close to his grandson, who feels his loss deeply.

“Ryan, as with the other children, was very close to his dad. This is shown by the fact they were both going fishing together on the day he died.

“Dave loved me and his family very much and we all loved him back. I will go to bed tonight and as I do every night I shall sleep on my side of our bed. David’s side will remain un-slept in.”

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Knowles, who led the investigation, said: “We know that seeing Richards sentenced will never undo the pain and heartache the Ford family will still be feeling. But we hope seeing him go to prison will help them start to move forward from this horrendous incident.”

Richards was also found not guilty of two counts of racially aggravated public order against two police officers last month during his trial.