Steven Jones, 24, of no fixed address but from Netherley, Liverpool, has been found guilty of the murder of Brandon Regan
A drug dealer who stabbed a teenager to death because he stole his scooter has been found guilty of murder.
Steven Jones, 24, knifed 17-year-old Brandon Regan four times - thrusting the blade so hard into the victim's back that he broke a rib.
Mr Regan managed to flee and climbed over a wall into the back garden of a home on Critchley Road in Speke, Liverpool, where he collapsed.
He died alone in a pool of blood and his body was only found when a woman looked out of her kitchen window the following morning.
Jones, and his accomplice Lewis Gibbons, who prosecutors said brought a meat cleaver and axe to the scene, were convicted of murder.
Their friend Jack Butterworth, who rammed Mr Regan off the scooter in his Audi A4, was cleared of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter.
A jury returned the unanimous verdicts yesterday after four hours and 22 minutes of deliberation, following a 17-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Mr Regan's family and friends sobbed in the public gallery, with his mum and others leaving the courtroom and one person shouting 'rats'.
Cocaine and cannabis dealer Jones and ex-Scania worker Butterworth, 22, showed no emotion, while Gibbons looked shocked and close to tears.
Brandon Regan, 17, who was murdered in Speke, Liverpool, after hotwiring Jones' scooter outside of his home, despite being warned by friends he could get 'battered'
Gibbons, 26, shook his head before leaving the dock with Butterworth, while Jones remained, staring at some of Mr Regan's family members.
After they had left, he told his family including the young mum of his two-year-old child 'not to worry', as they said they loved him.
The jury heard how Mr Regan, a 'small-time cannabis dealer', hotwired Jones's bike outside his flat in Millwood Court on January 28 last year, despite being warned by friends he could get 'battered'.
Prosecutors alleged Jones, plus Butterworth, Gibbons, and Ryan Buckley, 33, chased after him in Butterworth's black Audi at 9.47pm.
Accomplice Lewis Gibbons, 26, who prosecutors say brought a meat cleaver and an axe to the scene was also convicted of murder. Jack Butterworth, 22, was convicted of manslaughter for ramming Mr Regan off of the scooter
They said Butterworth collided with the 50cc moped in Critchley Road, knocking Brandon off, before Jones and Gibbons got out of the car.
Jones, of no fixed address but from Netherley, Liverpool, claimed he found a knife on the ground near the bike and acted in self-defence when Brandon 'rugby tackled' him in a nearby garden.
But Jones did not suffer
