The four teenagers, aged between 18 and 19, chased their victim and repeatedly struck him with a machete, leaving him with damaged bones and a fractured skull as he lay helpless on the ground
A baby-faced gang of teenagers repeatedly struck a boy with a machete, raining down blow after blow as he lay helpless on a pedestrian crossing.
The four pals chased their victim through Hemlington, Middlesbrough, in the early hours of April 29 last year before launching a “truly horrific and brutal attack” on the 17-year-old.
Wayne Boyd, 19, Kaya Azhar, 18, Leon Keenan, 18, and Tyler Bradley, 18, stood trial in December for their role in the horrific beating. Two of the group were convicted of attempted murder and the other two of wounding with intent, under joint enterprise.
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On Friday, Bradley and Boyd appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced for attempted murder. Keenan and Azhar arrived from prison to be sentenced for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
A fifth defendant, 18-year-old Ebony Watt, joined the boys in the dock as she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
The exact nature of the victim’s injuries – as well as the impact the attack had on him – are unknown, as he refused to cooperate with the police investigation.
But Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Boulton, who carried out a report on the injuries, told the trial that the victim was struck so hard with the machete, it damaged his bones. He suffered a fractured skull in the attack and underwent further surgery on his arm, reports Teesside Live.
The 17-year-old had been out shopping with a friend at the Viewley Centre that afternoon before meeting up with Watt and two other women, the court heard. The teenage boys went back to Watt’s home, where a disagreement broke out between the victim and one of the girls later that night.
Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, said the victim and his friend then left Watt’s home. Watt messaged her friend Wayne Boyd saying: “They’re walking and coming back. Hurry up. Fast time.”
Boyd then contacted Bradley. The two teens, along with Keenan, turned up at Watt’s home – but the victim and his pal had not returned, as Watt feared. They did return shortly after midnight and Watt then messaged Boyd and Azhar: “They’re here. Come now fast”.
Azhar arrived on a scooter and the other three travelled on an e-bike, the court was told. The victim then fled, but was chased by the group, who first began attacking him on a balcony on Elmhurst Gardens. In CCTV footage, Azhar was seen “encircling” the boy on an electric scooter. The victim leapt over the balcony before the men chased him down Cramlington Close.
CCTV captured Azhar carrying a “zombie knife” and Bradley and Keenan were also armed with large knives. The victim’s friend ran another way, and the pack pursued their victim across the Viewley centre car park. When the victim fell on the pedestrian crossing on Hemlington Hall Lane, Mr Perks said the attackers pounced.
Nearby residents “heard the victim’s screams” and shouted at the attackers to stop. The victim managed to drag himself over a fence into the Phoenix Park estate where people came to his aid before emergency services arrived.
Mr Perks said Azhar did not take part in the attack, but stayed close to the men before messaging Watt that he wanted to come back to her house. In a message to Azhar, Watt told him to hide his knife in a hole in her garden fence “cos if bobbies come, I’ll get the blame”.
In one text message, Bradley said the police “drones were up” and that he was “going to jail” – prompting him to turn off his mobile phone. Boyd messaged friends asking if anyone could supply him with some trainers to swap into, before checking into a hotel on Acklam Road, with Bradley. Each of the four were found and arrested over the course of the next few weeks.
Mitigating for Bradley, Paul Newcombe asked the court to consider a suspended prison sentence, saying: “He has behaved completely out of character.” Judge Francis Laird disagreed, adding: “He has 17 convictions for 47 offences, how can this be out of character?”
Mr Newcombe told the court that his client’s previous convictions were for “minor violence”, with him once throwing a creme egg at a McDonald’s worker and hitting a female shop worker.
Jonathan Gittins, representing Boyd, said: “He has not found life inside easy. He regrets his actions everyday. He wishes he had walked away. He knows he’s let his family down, particularly his mother who is in court”. Boyd suffered “a difficult childhood and has ADHD” the court heard.
Brian Russell said that his client, Azhar, made “very poor decisions” that night when he took a zombie knife to Watt’s home and “joined in with events”. But Mr Russell said that Azhar did later show the police where he hid his weapon, and forensic tests then proved he didn’t use it in the attack. The barrister said: “He’s learnt a tough lesson” having made “stupid and disastrous decisions”.
Keenan’s barrister said he “wasn’t carrying a knife but accepts he was convicted as part of a group attack”, adding: “Most 17-year-olds receive guidance from parents who tell them not to go out with knives – he didn’t have that guidance.”
Ebony Watt “was pregnant at the time” and the father of the child “had taken his ex-girlfriend on holiday to Turkey,” barrister Lee Goodchild said. “She is attracted to the wrong people – she is without strong figures in her life”. The court heard that Watt is homeless and “sofa-surfing”.
Judge Francis Laird said: “This was a truly horrific and brutal attack. He was fortunate to have escaped with his life”.
For the attempted murder of the boy, Bradley was handed a 17-year extended sentence, made up of 14-years in prison and three-years on extended licence in the community. He will serve two-thirds of the prison component before the parole board can consider if it is safe to release him.
For the same offence, Boyd was handed a 16-year extended sentence, comprising of 13 years in custody and three years on extended licence. He will also serve two-thirds of the prison component before the parole board can consider if it is safe to release him.
Keenan was handed a 50-month sentence for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Kaya Azhar was sentenced to 48-months jail, for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. For perverting the course of justice, Ebony Watt was handed a two-year community order.
“Giving you a very short custodial sentence would do immeasurable harm to you and your daughter” the judge said to Watt, who must attend 25-rehabilitation days and undertake a six-month mental health treatment requirement.