The scene inside the Mobiles Junction internet café on the evening of April 16 last year was as complex as it was harrowing.
Up to 11 different people had been inside the small shop on busy London Road, when a pack of killers cornered terrified Michael Toohey and kicked him to death. As one detective explained, failing to identify every individual could allow the killers to pin everything on the mystery man, so investigators had a formidable but vital task.
Eventually, drug-dealer Keiron Williams, his two brothers Michael and Anthony Williams and their friend Steven McInerney were all convicted of Michael's murder. A 14-year-old boy, who did not participate in beating Michael but acted as a "lookout" and called the killers to the scene, was also convicted of murder on a joint enterprise basis.
READ MORE: Teen begged for his life as killer told him 'I'll show you who the gangster is'
The five killers were each sentenced to life in prison at Liverpool Crown Court today. The adult defendants were all handed minimum terms of 18 years behind bars, while the teenager was told he must serve a minimum of eight years in detention.
When police and forensic investigators got to work it became clear the killers had left behind more than the broken body of Michael Toohey in that shop. Jonathan Stewart, forensic operations manager at Merseyside Police, said his team spent hours analysing finger, palm and footprints to pin-point who was where when the fatal blows were landed.
He told the ECHO: "By highlighting the position of the fingerprints in the area where the incident took place we could eliminate others who were at the scene that day, we could pinpoint it down to the people who were truly responsible for the brutal murder of Michael."
Mr Stewart and his team were also able to show, by the position palm prints had been left on the counter top inside the shop, that some of the killers had propelled themselves over the counter to get to the helpless teenager.
In even more harrowing evidence, fingerprints on a doorframe around where Michael's body was found also indicated how the killers had steadied themselves to deliver kicks and stamps on the teenager.
A huge boost also came when a wireless airPod earphone was found in the shop, with a single black hair wrapped around it. That hair unequivocally placed 32-year-old Anthony Williams, not only at the scene, but right in the heart of the attack.
Detective Chief Inspector Stephen McGrath led the investigation and it was his task to manage the flow of information coming in from forensic experts, CCTV and telephone analysts, the force's intelligence bureau and detectives in the major crimes unit.
The investigators found the murder came against a backdrop of a feud between groups of drug dealers. Detectives say they are unsure of the precise details of what caused the simmering tension, but believe Michael was "on the peripheries" of what was brewing.
In court, witnesses said Michael had previously sold drugs for a man called "Jerry", who had a long-standing feud with Keiron Williams and his associates based around the Langsdale estate in Everton. However, DCI McGrath and his team were unable to identify the mysterious Jerry, and are unsure whether he is an individual or even a reference to a drugs "line" or graft.
However DCI McGrath told the ECHO the key moment in the investigation for him was the moment he realised the force had managed to identify all 11 suspects inside the shop.
He said: "The identification of all those people in the shop at the time of the murder was extremely important for me. Throughout the investigation we were able to piece together different pieces of evidence, and certainly different pieces of forensic evidence and information, which enabled us to identify people as we went through the investigation.
"At one point in the investigation where we identified 10 people who were there, and it was extremely significant for me that we identified the 11th person. So yes I was very pleased essentially when we identified that 11th person."
Eventually nine people were charged with murder, and four were acquitted.
Today at Liverpool Crown Court, the three Williams brothers and McInerney were each sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years. The teenager was sentenced to life with an eight-year minimum detention.
Judge David Aubrey, KC, passing sentence, said: "It was a swift but brutal, ferocious and sustained attack upon him. Michael Toohey had jumped over the counter, scared, terrified and shaking. [A witness] gave evidence that Michael Toohey was shouting 'Help me save me, save me'. You, Keiron Williams, were shouting 'I'm gonna to stab you, I will kill you and I will not let you go from here. I will tell you who's the gangster here'"
The court heard Mr Toohey ran to the back of the shop and the four adult men followed. Judge Aubrey said: "Having gone over the counter, Michael Toohey ran to the back of the café, which was a small, confined space. He had nowhere else to go. He was trapped.
"You all had followed and surrounded him; he was very quickly punched to the floor by you Keiron Williams and was beaten to death by all of you acting together in concert. All of you were involved either by inflicting violence, or by intentionally encouraging the violence and ensuring [witnesses] did not get involved."
After the hearing, DCI McGrath added: "Merseyside Police has made significant investments in proactive policing to tackle serious violence through Operation Target and the Violence Reduction Partnership to provide high visibility policing in communities by putting resources in the right places at the right times and violence prevention
“Our operations to tackle violence is having a positive impact as we have seen a 15.5% decrease in serious violence with more than 350 less offences, an 19.6% reduction in knife crime which equates to more than 200 less offences between April to January this year compared to the same period last year.
“In addition, in the same periods there has been a 21.4% reduction in Section 18 assaults (GBH) of nearly 150 less offences.
“We are committed to making sure people are spared the pain that Michael’s family and others have endured, and we will continue our work with our partners to ensure we deter offenders, educate young people about the dangers, bring those involved in acts of violence to justice and protect our communities."
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