What happened to Matthew Daulby?

A street confrontation in Lancashire ended the life of 19-year-old Matthew Daulby and sparked an extensive police investigation using digital forensics. The case features on Channel 4‘s true-crime series, Murder Case: The Digital Detectives, highlighting how digital forensics, phone location tracking, and CCTV footage helped detectives unravel a complex web of violence to bring those responsible to justice. Matthew Daulby, 19, from Merseyside, was fatally attacked in the early hours of Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Ormskirk, West Lancashire Credit: PA The violence was triggered by an earlier altercation where a friend was assaulted near a local pub by Thomas Dures (pictured) Credit: Lancashire Constabulary Here’s everything you need to know about Matthew Daulby’s death, the sentences handed to his killers, and how to watch the documentary. What happened to Matthew Daulby? Matthew Daulby, 19, from Maghull, Merseyside, was fatally attacked in the early hours of Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Ormskirk, West Lancashire. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! He was out enjoying a normal Friday night with friends, just days before he was due to fly to Ibiza for a holiday. The violence was triggered by an earlier altercation in Ormskirk, where a friend was assaulted near a local pub by Thomas Dures. Phone calls and instant messages escalated the situation, prompting a 10-man group – including Matthew – to travel from Maghull and Liverpool to confront Dures and his associate, Henry Houghton. Emergency services responded to reports of an ongoing disturbance on Railway Road near the Alpine Bar at 12.05am. During the mass street brawl that broke out, 19-year-old Henry Houghton struck Matthew on the head using a makeshift weapon: a rock packed inside a sports sock. As a dazed Matthew recoiled from the blow, 21-year-old Thomas Dures lunged forward and plunged a lock knife into Matthew’s chest. Most read in The Sun Emergency services rushed Matthew to hospital, but he died later that morning. Lancashire Police‘s Digital Forensics Unit analysed thousands of data points – from live phone calls and group messaging threads to local CCTV footage – to map out how the brawl was organised and track the attackers’ escape routes. What happened to his killers? Two men were convicted of Matthew Daulby’s murder following separate trials at Preston Crown Court. Henry Houghton was found guilty of murder for inflicting the initial blow with the rock in a sock. In March 2024, Houghton was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. He is currently serving his sentence in prison and will not be eligible to apply for parole until 2044 at the earliest. After stabbing Matthew, Thomas Dures discarded his jacket on a park bench and fled the country, spending 18 months on the run across Europe. He was tracked down and arrested in Greece on December 2, 2024, under an international warrant before being extradited back to the UK. Following a trial at Preston Crown Court in July 2025, Dures was convicted of murder and sentenced on July 28, 2025, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years. He is currently serving his life sentence in prison and will not be eligible for parole until 2048. In December 2025, three co-defendants – James Evans, Alfie Forsyth, and Samuel Hopgood – were also sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy to commit violent disorder that led to the fatal fight. Evans and Forsyth received 34-month custodial sentences, while Hopgood received a suspended sentence. How can I watch The Digital Detectives on Channel 4 and catch up? Murder Case: The Digital Detectives airs on Channel 4 on Thursday, August 6, at 9pm. You can watch the episode “live” on television, or watch it on demand via the Channel 4 app on mobile devices, smart TVs, streaming sticks, or online at Channel4.com. All previous episodes from Series 1 and 2 are available to stream free of charge with ads for registered UK users, or ad-free with a Channel 4+ subscription. Comment now