Man jailed for murder of friend

A man has been jailed for the murder of his friend in Cheslyn Hay.

Bradley Nightingale, 29, of Bloxwich, Walsall, was convicted of murder following the death of Jake Mills, who was 34 at the time he was killed last year.

Today (Friday 19 June), Nightingale was sentenced to life imprisonment at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, with a minimum term to serve of 17 years behind bars.

(Bradley Nightingale)

Officers and staff have been working hard on the investigation since Jake was tragically found dead inside his flat on High Street on 18 September 2025. He had been reported missing previously and was found by officers when they forced their way into his address.

Jake was found with a stab wound to his neck, which were later deemed to be his cause of death. Some of Jake's personal belongings were missing from inside the flat.

After carrying out enquiries at the scene, we identified that in the early hours two days prior to Jakes body being found, he had been inside his flat with a man.

That man was Nightingale.

Nightingale was seen on CCTV leaving Jake’s address. He got into Jake’s car, an Audi A5, and drove for a short distance before crashing and fleeing the area.

Nightingale was arrested at his home on 20 September. He gave a pre-prepared statement when he was interviewed, saying that he was with Jake the night before and Jake had given permission to drive the car the following morning, and that he had not murdered him or caused him any injury. He then answered no comment to our questions.

Officers and staff from our major investigations department (MID) have worked tirelessly to support Jakes family and gather the evidence to understand what happened to Jake prior to his death.

(Jake Mills)

We found that Nightingale used Jake’s bank card to pay for bus travel, attempted to buy alcohol, contact Jakes bank direct and ignore calls from Jake’s mother whilst fleeing the area and later selling Jakes phone at a second-hand retailer the same morning.

Speaking following the sentencing today, Detective Inspector Gina Pope, from MID, said: “My thoughts remain with Jake’s family and friends who we know have suffered absolute heart break following the tragic events that took place last year.

“Officers and staff have worked incredibly hard to capture all of the evidence and progress this investigation for which I thank them again, which ensured the jury were able to come to their verdict in the trial last month.

“I’m pleased we’ve been able to secure this result for Jake’s family.”