A 14-year-old boy has been found guilty of murdering Michael Toohey at a city centre internet café.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of the 18-year-old's murder by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court earlier today, Monday. But another defendant - 25-year-old Matthew Wynn, of Mosslawn Road in Kirkby - was cleared of the same count.
Tempers reportedly flared in the courtroom after the verdicts were delivered, with police officers having to intervene amid the heightened tensions. Four others - Keiron Williams, aged 28 and of no fixed address; Anthony Williams, 32, of Hillbrook Drive in Walton; Michael Williams, 24, of Carslake Grove in Walton and Steven McInerney, 33, of Bridport Street in the city centre - were found guilty of murder on Friday afternoon following a trial, which had been running since late November.
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All five will be sentenced at a later date, which is yet to fixed. A further three men - Callum Hewell, 21, of Stratton Road; David Shelley, 26, of Chiltern Drive, and James Knox, 20, of Oakdale Close, all in Kirkby - were all found not guilty of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter last week.
Jurors previously heard that Mr Toohey died after being chased into Mobiles Junction and Internet Café on Monument Place, off London Road, and battered by a gang who were "called in" by a 14-year-old in the early evening of April 16 last year. The youth had been pressured into selling drugs by a man referred to as "Gerry", with the incident coming against the background of a "war" between rival dealers.
But the Williams brothers claimed that they raced to the scene after being told that Mr Toohey had threatened the boy with a knife. The teen was then said to have brandished this weapon once pursued into the shop.
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