The group of youths who were with a 14-year-old boy when he was stabbed to death helped to catch his killer, police have revealed.
Tomasz Oleszak was stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife by 15-year-old Leighton Amies. The attack occurred in a park near Tomasz's home on the Springwell Estate in Gateshead.
Amies also swung the blade at another boy, damaging his coat and narrowly avoiding causing him significant injury.
Tomasz was treated by medical staff following the incident on October 3 last year but sadly passed away in hospital the following morning.
In April this year, Amies, of Stuart Terrace, Felling, Gateshead, was convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court of murdering Tomasz and attempting to cause GBH with intent to the other boy. He had previously admitted possession of a bladed article.
On Thursday morning, he was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years behind bars.
Northumbria Police have praised the group of youths, which Tomasz had joined up with that night, for helping them to quickly identify Amies.
Detective Inspector Chris Deavin, the Senior Investigating Officer in the murder enquiry, said: "I think we've really got to acknowledge the efforts of the kids that were there because they very quickly did some detective work of their own.
"Through social media, they were able to say Leighton was responsible for this and identified him very quickly to police. Which enabled us to go and arrest Leighton at his home address.
"Also a significant element of this was the information that was given to us by one member of community - a young boy who had to be quite brave in his actions in terms of identifying the knife to us and where that was recovered from in the Wrekenton area. So he played a significant role.
"So without the bravery of the kids, all given their part of the story and playing their part, and also the information that they gave us, it may have taken us a lot longer to get to Leighton."
Det Insp Deavin said the group knew Amies' girlfriend and that they may have been in dispute about her at the time. He said this enabled them to quickly identify him via social media and pass his name on to officers.
When asked what they were in dispute over, he said: "It's really unclear, a distinct possibility was because Leighton's new girlfriend has previously gone out with one of Tomasz's group of friends and it's as simple as that. Teenage bravado more than anything else. There was no long standing dispute, they weren't known to each other."
Det Insp Deavin said the youths who were at the scene have been left traumatised by what they witnessed.
He said: "This was a complex investigation in that we had to speak to quite a number of distressed children who witnessed this so that required a real sensitive approach in terms of the way we approached those interviews and the evidence we were able to gather from those children."
Police said there had been a dispute between the group and Amies the day before Tomasz was stabbed.
Det Insp Deavin said Amies was walking through the park in October, along with his girlfriend at the time, and he came across the larger group that Tomasz was associated to.
He said: "There was some sort of words exchanged, I don't think anyone is really clear on exactly what was said, and nothing at that point happened."
Det Insp Deavin said Tomasz had been with other friends the following day and had joined the group after meeting them on his way home.
He said: "The following day Tomasz goes out, on the 3rd of October, with another group of children.
"He's returning home when he comes across another group of friends who were the ones that were in dispute with Leighton Amies and there's a coming together.
"At that point and Leighton has produced a knife and stabbed Tomasz in the chest causing him a fatal injury.
"But at the same time has also attempted to stab one of the other youths who were in the group with Tomasz and was probably very close to causing him significant injury as well."
Det Insp Deavin said Leighton was arrested after being identified by the youths present and the knife was found in some bushes not far away from the park.
Amies denied the charges, claiming he had been beaten to the ground and he had acted in self defence. However he was found guilty following a trial at the court in Newcastle.
Det Insp Deavin said: "There's always a concern the jury will take on board what Leighton's said.
"It was very difficult to get away from (the fact that) the larger group, that Tomasz was part of, followed Leighton into the nature reserve.
"It was after that that I think to a degree Leighton's story unravelled in that he said he was beaten to the ground etc.
"Yet when he arrived in custody, seen by staff in custody, including nurses and photographed, he has no injuries at all so I think the suggestion he was beaten quite severely by a larger group unravels a little bit there."
When asked if Amies has shown remorse, Det Insp Deavin said: "He made no reply in interview, to police, but probably based more on legal advice than anything else.
"I think you can see the affect it has had on him in court and that's the level of remorse. It's really difficult because of his age I think to make comment on what he was thinking and feeling at the time."
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