'I've wetted your boy': Chilling boast of baby-faced teenager who stabbed 14-year-old to death in park

17 April 2023, 17:57

A 15-year-old boy stabbed another teenager to death in a park and told a gang "I've wetted your boy" as he boasted about the killing.

Leighton Amies can now be named after a judge ruled it was in the public interest to remove his anonymity as a youngster, saying it should serve to deter other children from carrying knives.

He shouted the boast at a gang after he stabbed Tomasz Oleszak in the chest in a Gateshead park last October.

Amies, who was 14 at the time of the killing, was walking through Whitehills Nature Park with his girlfriend at about 8pm when a group of young people followed them.

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Amies was carrying a serrated kitchen knife in his jacket, which he said was for "reassurance".

The group attacked Amies and he slashed at Tomasz.

He shouted "I've wetted your boy", meaning he had made him bleed.

Prosecutor Mark McKone KC told the court: "He wanted them to know he had stabbed one of their number. It was a boast."

Amies said he did not know he had stabbed Tomasz.

His defence lawyer, Peter Makepeace KC, said Amies was "under group attack" and had to "make terrible decisions under a moment's notice".

But Amies was convicted of murder and attempted to cause GBH on another boy whose coat was cut.

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Lifting a ban on reporting his name, Mr Justice Spencer said at Newcastle Crown Court on Sunday: "There is a public interest in trying to deflect young people from the carrying of knives, where when that happens, this kind of utterly tragic outcome can occur."

Northumbria Police's Detective Inspector Chris Deavin: "Tomasz had his whole life ahead of him, he was a promising footballer and a popular pupil at his school.

"Today, Leighton Amies has been found guilty of murder but no conviction or any length of sentence will ever bring Tomasz back.

"We want to send an unequivocal message to anyone who chooses to carry a weapon of any kind or believes that violence is acceptable - the consequences can be devastating.

"Look at the pain this tragedy has caused - not only could you take away someone else's future and destroy the lives of their loved ones, but also ruin your own and those of your family and friends."