// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Father of murdered man describes trial as 'hell'
The father of a man who was fatally attacked by an armed gang has described the trial following his son's death as "hell".
Dale Martin, also known as DJ, was dragged out of a car in Derby in June 2025 and repeatedly stabbed and slashed.
On Friday, one man was was given a life sentence, with a minimum term of 27 years, for his murder. Five other men from the city - who were found guilty of manslaughter following a trial more than four months long - were also jailed.
Speaking to the BBC after the sentencing hearing, the victim's father, Dale Martin, said some of the killers went to the same school as his son, and some would come to his house for evening meals as children.
"Some of these children used to hang about on the street late at night, and if we were about and we were cooking tea, someone would come in and have tea in the garden or in the kitchen with us," Martin added.
Dale Martin, 21, was described as a "proper family lad" by his father
Martin, said he felt "relief" that court proceedings had now concluded.
"It's been nearly five months of hell to be fair, something we've never gone through and I'd never want to go through it again," he said.
"It hurts, we're just going to go home as a family and just try and get back to some sort of normality which it never will do.
"It'll never come to normality because DJ's not there," Martin added.