jarrett
Remee Jarrett, 30, from Nottingham, (R) knifed Reuben Morris-Laing, 21, (L) as he left a shop. Police handout

A ruthless killer who knifed an innocent man to death in a case of mistaken identity, before telling his victim "soz bro," has been jailed for life.

Calculating Remee Jarrett spotted his intended target Rakeem Thomas, 21, enter the Premier Express in St Anns, Nottingham on 22 March last year.

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As he lay in wait at the entrance to the shop, Reuben Morris-Laing, 21, walked out before Thomas, after buying a chocolate bar.

The 30-year-old killer pounced, knifing the carpenter once in the stomach, fatally piercing one of Morris-Laing's arteries his kidney and liver.

As he realised he knifed the wrong man he told his victim 'Soz bro' and stepped over him, and chased after Thomas, stabbing him in the back and arm.

Jarrett of St Ann's, admitted murder, attempted wounding with intent and possession of a knife at Nottingham Crown Court and was jailed for life with a minimum 22 years and 189 days behind bars.

The court heard that Jarrett was carrying a knife by a chance when he spotted Thomas, who he blamed for stabbing him in an earlier incident.

CCTV footage recorded from inside the shop shows Jarrett stabbing Morris-Laing, who just happened to be the first person to approach the door to leave the shop.

Morris-Laing instantly collapsed and Jarrett then jumped over him, as he lay dying, and stabbed Thomas before fleeing the scene.

In a rush to escape, Jarrett left behind his mobile phone and police found that Jarrett had been looking up knife-fighting websites in the weeks before the killing.

A number of warrants were executed at addresses the killer was associated with before he handed himself in three days later.

Morris-Laing's father Shane Morris said after the sentencing: "I feel I have two lives, the life that was mine before 22 March 2017 and the life that has followed since that date. Life cannot and will not ever be the same.

"In that evening my son had merely gone to the shop to buy some pop and some chocolate. Who would ever have thought he would never return home?

"Reuben had his whole life ahead of him. He was passionate and creative. He worked hard. He was a skilled young man. He had so much to give. He was loved by so many. The enormity of the loss I feel I just cannot describe."