‘Jealous’ man chops up brother with machete after hearing rumors about his ex

Jordan Harkins suspected that his ex-girlfriend had slept with his brother while he was in prison

A man accused his brother of having an affair with his ex-girlfriend while in prison before hacking him to death in bed with a machete. Jordan Harkins suspected his younger brother had met up with his former partner while she was in prison for firebombing her former boyfriend’s house.

His last victim was left with blood spurting from his leg as a result of the brutal attack. When police caught up with him, the attacker later asked: “How is my brother?”

On Friday afternoon, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Harkins had previously had a “short-term” relationship with Lois Elliott, then 17, in 2020. During their relationship, she became pregnant by the defendant, but the two separated when she was pregnant.

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Prosecutor Christopher Hopkins described how in June of that year he set fire to a house in Kensington where Ms Elliott’s former partner Clayton Renshaw lived with his mother and threw a homemade petrol bomb through the window in “revenge”. This led to Harkins being sentenced to six years in prison in March 2021 for arson and without regard to endangering human life, before being released on parole in July 2023.

The now 27-year-old then turned up “unannounced” at Ms Elliot’s home on June 23 this year, after “having made contact with her several weeks previously”. On the afternoon of June 24, she then received a call from his sister “accusing her of having slept with the defendant’s brother, Josef, while the defendant was in prison”.

Both parties denied this was the case, but the brothers’ mother, Tracey McGrath, later heard Harkins talking to his ex on the phone at their home in Morningside Road, Norris Green. She said she heard Ms Elliott, 21, on the loudspeaker “saying she had slept with Josef and claiming to have a photograph of it”, although Mr Hopkins said: “The prosecution say if that was said then it is not true.”

Ms McGrath then found Jordan Harkins in his 23-year-old brother’s bedroom, punching him in the face as he lay in bed. Joseph Harkins was covered in blood and the mother tried to separate her sons from him before calling her daughter for help.

When she returned to the room, she saw Jordan repeatedly hitting Josef on the leg with a machete. He reportedly suffered a gaping wound on his left arm before suffering a “spurting gash” on his left leg.

Harkins then fled the property, leaving the bloodstained gun behind. Josef Harkins later told investigators when they visited him in the trauma unit at Aintree Hospital on June 25 that he was sleeping when his brother entered his room shouting, “What is that photo of you and Lois?” and “accusing him of sleeping with her while he was in prison.”

He recalled that his attacker then armed himself with the machete and began to beat him with it. The complainant was subsequently driven to the hospital by another brother after his older brother had left.

The defendant was later arrested at another address. There he attempted to escape by climbing over a fence before being arrested. Harkins then asked officers: “How is my younger brother?”

He is said to have “strewn a number of bloodthirsty instruments throughout the house”, with three machetes being seized during a search of the property. His criminal record includes nine previous convictions for 12 offences, including assault in 2009, as well as charges of possessing a knife in a public place and criminal damage.

Defence lawyer Paul Wood told the court: “The defendant is truly and sincerely sorry for his actions. He knows he must change his behaviour. He is distressed at the harm he has caused to his brother, who never deserved this. He is deeply sorry for what he has done.”

“The defendant had a difficult childhood. He did not complete school. He took drugs – cannabis, cocaine and MDMA. Since being in prison he has been drug-free. He has shown determination to deal with his drug problems.”

Harkins admitted to causing bodily harm with intent. He was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he must serve at least two-thirds before being eligible for release, and was granted three years’ probation.

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Cowan said: “You attacked your younger brother in an appalling and, quite frankly, cruel manner with a very dangerous weapon. How, it might be asked, could a man such as yourself commit such a serious offence?

“You have mental health problems related to your traumatic childhood. I have read your letter expressing your shame and remorse. I accept that this is genuine. When you are quiet, you regret what you have done.

“I can assume without hesitation that you are a dangerous criminal. There is a terrible combination of circumstances in your character, three things that together represent this danger.

“First, it is clear to me that you are compulsively jealous. Second, you are obviously completely incapable of controlling your behavior. Third, you have shown that you are willing to use very serious violence with weapons.”