A 15-year-old boy has been detained for a minimum of 12 years after he stabbed another teenager to death.
“I’ve wetted your boy,” Leighton Amies shouted at a gang after stabbing 14-year-old Tomasz Oleszak in the chest at a nature park in Gateshead last October.
“It was a boast,” prosecutor Mark McKone KC told jurors during his trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Amies was convicted of murdering Tomasz last month.
Amies – also 14 at the time – was walking through Whitehills Nature Park with his girlfriend at about 8pm when a group of youths followed them.
He was carrying a serrated kitchen knife in his jacket pocket for “reassurance”, he said.
After being found guilty, trial judge Mr Justice Spencer lifted a ban on the media identifying him, to deter other teenagers from carrying knives.
Peter Makepeace KC, defending, told jurors that Amies had not been looking for trouble.
“This is a 14-year-old under group attack and having to make terrible decisions under a moment’s notice,” he said.
Amies, who slashed another group member’s coat, was also convicted of a charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
He had previously admitted carrying a blade.
