Bacup man jailed for life for murder of Luke Harden

The parents of Luke Harden have today spoken of the heartbreak of losing their son as his murderer was jailed for life.

Bhekisani Matabiswana was found guilty following a trial at Preston Crown Court of the murder of 37-year-old Luke on November 1^st last year.

Luke and friends had been to a Halloween fancy dress party at a working men’s club in Stacksteads the evening before, an event also attended by Matabiswana and a group of his friends.

After leaving the event there was an interaction between Matabiswana and Luke on Newchurch Road at just before midnight. A short time later Luke was punched and then either kicked and/or stamped on by Matabiswana while he lay defenceless on the ground. Luke had no defensive wounds on his hands or arms, and there were no marks on his hands to suggest he was the aggressor.

Matabiswana made no effort to help the stricken Luke or to call an ambulance and this was instead done by a passer-by who saw Luke lying on the pavement and called for help and administered first aid.

Matabiswana told police who arrived at the scene that he had been walking from the working men’s club when he came across Luke lying on the floor. He falsely claimed that he used Luke’s phone to call for an ambulance and that he had also telephoned Rawtenstall A and E.

While Matabiswana’s female associate was talking to the police, the defendant was captured on the officer’s body worn video camera talking to himself. He was heard to say: “We shouldn’t have done this.”

Despite the best efforts of medical personnel, Luke was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene at 1.17am.

A Home Office postmortem examination showed he died as a result of blunt force trauma to head and neck following an assault.

Shortly before 2am Matabiswana and his female associate were arrested on suspicion of Luke’s murder and taken into custody.

When Matabiswana arrived at custody, it was noted that he had grazing on his left-hand knuckles and swelling around the ring finger of his right hand which caused him pain when touched. He later claimed in his police interview that the injuries to his hands were old and did not cause him any pain.

On 2^nd November Matabiswana and his female associate were released under investigation whilst our enquiries continued.

The following day, and having been tracked by the authorities, Matabiswana was arrested at Manchester Airport trying to board a flight to South Africa.

In his subsequent police interview, Matabiswana accepted that he had struck Luke but claimed it was in self-defence as he had been punched first. He denied using his feet to assault Luke.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, Matabiswana, 27, of St James Street, Bacup, was charged with murder.

At Preston Crown Court today (Monday, May 18^th) he was jailed for life with a minimum term of sixteen and a half years before he is eligible to apply for parole.

In a victim personal statement read to the court Luke’s dad Gary Harden said: “Since November 1st, 2025, our lives have completely changed. The pain of losing Luke in such a violent and senseless way, is something we carry every single day. There is a constant emptiness that cannot be filled.

“As his dad, I find myself thinking about the time we had and wishing we had made more of it, wishing we saw each other more, said even more. Those thoughts stay with me, and they add to the pain of losing him.

“Everyday life is no longer the same, simple things are harder, family moments feel incomplete.

“There is always something missing and it’s because Luke should be there, but he isn’t and can no longer be.

“What hurts most is knowing I will never hear him say “love you too, Dad” again. I will never hug him again, never see his smile, never hear his laugh. That has been taken from me, and from everyone who loved him.”

Luke’s mum Katie McGovern said:” The reality of our situation and family dynamic has now changed forever. Where we looked to the future and lived in happiness, it’s now overtaken with fear, stress, worry and pain in order for us to just survive. We no longer can be normal, we are now living in a new reality that does not feel real and we will never be the same people we were before the 1st November.

“The realisation that Luke is not able to become a dad, that we are not going to be grandparents.

“Not being able to take regular holidays or have our conversations, what used to be a simple and mundane part of life of having Friday night calls with Luke where he put the world to rights, has now become some of our cherished memories.

“We have been robbed of time, hugs, kisses, love, memories. Watching his life, his future, his plans and his career all unfold has been ripped away and the reason why is still unknown. We have been robbed of a son, something a parent should never do, bury their child in their lifetime.

DI Pete MacDonald, from the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “Luke Harden was the victim of a vicious attack carried out by a man who continued to assault him while he lay defenceless on the ground. His attacker then made no effort to help him and pretended he had simply stumbled across Luke already injured.

“Matabiswana has shown no remorse whatsoever for his actions and has made several efforts to evade justice, including by trying to flee the country. 

“I welcome this sentence imposed today and while no jail term can ever compensate for the loss of a life, I hope it gives Luke’s family some sense that justice has been done.

“I would like to thank once again our Counsel, the CPS and all those officers and police staff who worked tirelessly to ensure Luke’s loved ones got the justice they deserve.”