This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-46228934
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Telford cricket bat murder: Boy, 16, convicted | Telford cricket bat murder: Boy, 16, convicted |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A 16-year-old boy who fractured a man's skull with a cricket bat has been found guilty of murder. | A 16-year-old boy who fractured a man's skull with a cricket bat has been found guilty of murder. |
| The teenager is said to have crept up behind Derek Whyteside in Telford, Shropshire, as he searched for two stolen children's bikes in June. | |
| Mr Whyteside, 42, collapsed on the ground and died two days later. | |
| The teenager had claimed he acted in self defence, but he was found guilty of murder by a jury at Stafford Crown Court. | |
| Mr Whyteside, of Chesterfield Road, Dawley, was looking in Withywood Drive, Malinslee, for children's bicycles which had been taken from outside his home earlier the same day. | |
| "He was looking for two stolen bicycles and also he was looking for those responsible for stealing them," prosecutor Kevin Hegarty QC previously told the court. | |
| "Whilst he was there, he was struck across the back of the head with a bat. | |
| "The impact fractured his skull and the fracture extended into his right eye socket." | |
| Latest news and stories from the West Midlands | |
| Mr Whyteside was given no chance to take any action to defend himself, to get away or to evade the blow, the prosecution said. | |
| His skull was further fractured as his head hit the ground. | |
| He was then attacked by two men. | |
| William Owens, 41, and Gareth Edward Owens, 39, both of Boulton Grange, Randlay, each admitted a charge of affray. | |
| The jury had been told Mr Whyteside was seen carrying a knuckle-duster. | |
| West Mercia Police said the jury had dismissed the self defence plea and agreed the boy acted with intent. |