Fleetwood teenager jailed after fatally stabbing ex-girlfriend's dad 12 times
50 year old Mark Webster was killed in Blackpool last year
A teenager who stabbed a man to death in his own back garden faces life behind bars after being found guilty of murder.
Levi Westhead, 18, of Flakefleet Avenue, Fleetwood was today found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s father, during an altercation last July.
Police were called at around 8.55pm on Friday July 23 2021 to a report of a stabbing at an address on Carsluith Avenue, in Blackpool.
Officers attended the Webster family home and found Mark Webster, 50, with a total of 12 knife wounds. He was taken to hospital, but sadly died a short time later.
A Home Office post mortem examination gave a cause of death as stab wounds to the chest.
Following a search of the area, Westhead was arrested a short time later, hiding in a neighbouring garden. He was subsequently charged with murder and remanded in custody.
During a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court the jury were told how the defendant had previously been in a relationship with the victim’s 16-year-old daughter for 18 months, which had ended a few weeks before the murder.
Westhead had received a warning from police in relation to harassment of his ex-girlfriend. He was found to have been using a variety of social media platforms and even set up false accounts in his attempts to contact her.
CCTV shown in court from the afternoon of the murder showed Westhead outside his ex-girlfriend’s workplace on Albert Road Blackpool. He was seen waiting for her and then trying to speak to her following his relentless messages and phone calls which had totaled nearly 300 the day before the murder.
The jury were told how Westhead had arrived at the Webster family home later the same evening armed with a knife. He knocked on the front door demanding to see his ex-girlfriend, but Mr Webster had refused to let him inside.
The defendant then made his way around the back of the house and gained access to the back garden. Mr Webster has gone outside at this point and a scuffle has ensued ending in Mr Webster receiving the fatal stab wounds. A kitchen knife, confirmed as the murder weapon, was found at the scene.
Further CCTV footage showed Westhead walking along nearby Canterbury Avenue towards the property in the minutes before the incident and then running back away from the property in the moments after.
Evidence also included how Westhead had sent text messages and made a call to his grandmother, after fleeing the scene, in which he is reported to have said: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ve hurt somebody with a knife, I was so angry.”
Today, after just two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict. Levi Westhead (pictured right) will be sentenced on March 17.
Det Chf Insp Jane Webb from Lancashire Police’s Force Major Investigation team said:
“This is an utterly tragic case where a much-loved husband and father was merely protecting his family when he was stabbed to death.
“Sadly, this verdict provides no relief from the dreadful loss that Mr Webster’s family and friends have suffered. They have remained incredibly dignified throughout this investigation and my thoughts remain with them at this desperately difficult time.”
In a statement the family said:
“Despite the conviction it will not bring back Web or ease the pain of him not being with us. It does however give us some peace of mind knowing that Levi Westhead is where he belongs for the term of his sentence. His death was so unnecessary. We would like to thank the police, the prosecution team and the jury for bringing us this justice.”