Two teenagers have been found guilty of fatally knifing a 16-year-old boy in the back as he played with his friends in a Bristol park.
Darrian Williams was sitting on a bench when he was set upon by two cyclists in Rawnsley Park who inflicted the deadly wound in an eight-second ambush on Valentine’s Day this year.
The boys, who are now 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, denied murder but were found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.
Members of Darrian’s family gasped and sobbed as the verdicts were returned and hugged each other afterwards.
Darrian’s aunt, Tiffany, described the murdered teen as “full of life” and “very, very intelligent”.
She said: “He was always extra about himself. He loved himself and his appearance. He loved his hair that was big for him he had these beautiful curls.
“He was my right hand man with the other kids. Everything I would forget like putting pounds under the pillows when they lost a tooth - he would be the one to remind me and go and do it for me.
“He was just very outgoing and always happy.”
The jury was told Darrian was sitting on a picnic bench with friends in the park in the Easton area of the city when he was set upon.
Despite being fatally injured the teenager managed to run away from his attackers and flag down a passing van driver for help.
The emergency services were alerted but Darrian could not be saved.
A pathologist concluded that the cause of his death was a single stab wound to his back.
The court heard there was “background” to the offence, including an incident a few weeks earlier when Darrian was at a bus stop with a friend when he was approached by people in balaclavas asking him if he was a member of the 1-6 gang.
The 1-6 gang, which is associated with the Fishponds, Hillfields and Oldbury Court areas, has a long-standing rivalry with the 2-4s or 2s gang, which is linked to the St Paul’s and St Jude’s districts.
Witnesses later told police how the two boys, wearing balaclavas, approached Darrian, who was at a picnic bench, and shouted: “Is that Darrian? Are you 1-6?”
One defendant was holding a single kitchen knife and the other is described as having a kitchen knife in each hand.
After the attack, one is said to have remarked “2s on top”.
Both defendants had denied murder.
One admitted a charge of possessing a knife in a public place and the other denied that charge but was found guilty by the jury.
One of the 16-year-old boys told the jury he had accepted causing the fatal wound, claiming he did so in self-defence.
He said they had gone through the park to reach a nearby property to collect a debt before returning when Darrian had shouted “yo, yo” at them, which he took to mean they should go over to him.
“I dropped my bike. I went towards him. I said ‘wa gwan’. Darrian went back and kicked me in my chest area,” he said. “I stumbled backwards. He kicked [the co-defendant] in the chest area. He fell to the ground.
“I moved around the bench. After he kicked [the co-defendant] I saw his hands around his waist. I was fearing that he was pulling out a knife. I heard something about a shank. A shank is a knife.
“I was quite scared. I had butterflies in my stomach. I pulled out my knife quickly and I stabbed at Darrian.
The other 16-year-old boy’s case was that he did not have a knife and did not intend to cause Darrian really serious injury.
Trial judge Mr Justice Saini adjourned sentencing until 5 December for the preparation of pre-sentence reports and remanded the teenagers in custody.
Addressing Darrian’s family, the judge added: “There are no winners at the end of this case. I know it is an unimaginable loss.”
