Two teenagers have been convicted of the murder of a 16-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in the back during a gang-related attack.
Darrian Williams was attacked by two 15-year-olds in a Bristol park on February 14 this year.
Bristol Crown Court heard the boys cycled into Rawnsley Park and began attacking Darrian with knives – and in just eight seconds of violence caused a fatal stab wound to his back.
The boys, who are now 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, denied murder but were found guilty by a jury.
Members of Darrian’s family gasped and sobbed as the verdicts were returned and hugged each other afterwards.
The jury was told Darrian was sitting on a picnic bench with friends in the park in the Easton area of the city when he was set upon.
Despite being fatally injured the teenager managed to run away from his attackers and flag down a passing van driver for help.
The emergency services were alerted but Darrian could not be saved.
A pathologist concluded that the cause of his death was a single stab wound to his back.
The court heard there was “background” to the offence, including an incident a few weeks earlier when Darrian was at a bus stop with a friend when he was approached by people in balaclavas asking him if he was a member of the 1-6 gang.
The 1-6 gang, which is associated with the Fishponds, Hillfields and Oldbury Court areas, has a long-standing rivalry with the 2-4s or 2s gang, which is linked to the St Paul’s and St Jude’s districts.
One of the defendants said he had carried a knife since an incident in a McDonalds’ branch in Bristol in which a youth had been seen with a machete, six days before the attack on Darrian.
CCTV footage from February 14 shows the two defendants riding bikes towards Rawnsley Park at about 5.40pm, leaving the area and returning 10 minutes later.
Witnesses later told police how the two boys, wearing balaclavas, approached Darrian, who was at a picnic bench, and shouted: “Is that Darrian? Are you 1-6?”
One defendant was holding a single kitchen knife and the other is described as having a kitchen knife in each hand.
After the attack, one is said to have remarked “2s on top”.
The court heard the defendants were asked why they had attacked Darrian, and referred to “2s” in reply.
One said: “Tell Darrian when I see him, I’m going to stab him.”
Michael Burrows KC, prosecuting, told the jury the defendants had gone past Darrian in the park before returning 10 minutes later to “confront him”.
He said: “They chose to return. They chose to approach the group. They were both armed with knives. They were asking whether he was 1-6.
“The prosecution say this was some kind of gang attack.”
Both defendants had denied murder.
One admitted a charge of possessing a knife in a public place and the other denied that charge but was found guilty by the jury.
One of the 16-year-old boys told the jury he had accepted causing the fatal wound, claiming he did so in self-defence.
He said they had gone through the park to reach a nearby property to collect a debt before returning when Darrian had shouted “yo, yo” at them, which he took to mean they should go over to him.
“I dropped my bike. I went towards him. I said ‘wa gwan’. Darrian went back and kicked me in my chest area,” he said.
“I stumbled backwards. He kicked [the co-defendant] in the chest area. He fell to the ground.
“I moved around the bench. After he kicked [the co-defendant] I saw his hands around his waist. I was fearing that he was pulling out a knife. I heard something about a shank. A shank is a knife.
“I was quite scared. I had butterflies in my stomach. I pulled out my knife quickly and I stabbed at Darrian.
“I heard Darrian’s coat rip.”
The other 16-year-old boy’s case was that did not have a knife and did not intend to cause Darrian really serious injury.
Trial judge Mr Justice Saini adjourned sentencing until December 5 for the preparation of pre-sentence reports and remanded the teenagers in custody.
Addressing them, he said: “You have heard the verdict of the jury and you have both been found guilty of murder.
“Under the law I have to pass a life sentence upon you. I have to decide the minimum term before you can apply for parole.”
Addressing Darrian’s family, the judge added: “There are no winners at the end of this case. I know it is an unimaginable loss.”
In an interview published after the case, Darrian’s aunt Tiffany Williams paid tribute to him as her “little right-hand man”.
She described her nephew, who had lived with her for eight years, as “cheeky, smart (and) extremely intelligent”.
Ms Williams said: “Darrian was full of life. He was a little bit extra in everything he does. He loved himself and his appearance. He loved his hair, it was a big thing for him, he had very beautiful curls.”
Detective Inspector Neil Meade, of Avon and Somerset Police, said Darrian had only celebrated his 16th birthday a few days before he was murdered.
He said there was no evidence Darrian had any “direct association” with the rival groups referred to during the trial, or that he was carrying a knife.
“Over the course of our investigation, it has become clear just how popular and how loved he was, and his death at such a young age is a tragedy,” DI Meade added.
