Teenager found guilty of murdering 15-year-old Alfie Lewis outside school in Leeds
A teenager has been found guilty of murdering 15-year-old Alfie Lewis in Horsforth, Leeds in November last year
Last updated 3rd May 2024
Following a nearly two-week long trial, a jury has found a 15-year-old boy guilty of murdering Alfie Lewis.
The 15-year-old was stabbed to death "in full view" of pupils leaving a primary school, on Church Road in the Horsforth area of Leeds on 7 November 2023.
A 15-year-old boy, who can't be named because of his age, denied murder, claiming he was scared he was about to be attacked.
Sobs were heard from Alfie Lewis's family in the public gallery, who hugged each other as the verdict was announced. Most were wearing T-shirts with pictures of Alfie, saying "Forever 15".
The defendant showed no visible emotion as the verdict was passed. He later held hands with his parents through a gap in the dock glass before being taken away.
The judge, Mr Justice Cotter, will sentence the youth on June 21.
He told the defendant: "You have been found guilty of murder. There is only one sentence I can pass. What I have to determine is how many years you will be detained before you are able to be released."
Tributes to Alfie still in Horsforth
Down the road from where Alfie was killed is a bench, now a focal point for tributes. His friend and family described it as 'Alfie's bench'.
Dozens of tributes still remain there today, including flowers, photographs and a plaque that reads 'Keep Dancing in the Sky. Forever 15'.
Alfie's family released a tribute, in November last year. They said: “I haven't got the words to describe how devastated we all are.
“Alfie you were one in a million, so funny and an all-round entertainer with your rapping and dancing feet.
“You had the biggest heart and took care of everybody around you. You will never know just how much you are loved by family and friends, and you will always be our uncle Alfie.
“We love you so much. Nothing will ever be the same without you. You will shine in the sky, as bright as you did in all our lives. I love you more than words can say, and you will always be with us forever."
Alfie "not the aggressor" - prosecutors
Opening the case to jurors last week, prosecutor Craig Hassall KC said Alfie had been walking down the street to meet friends at the end of the school day when the defendant attacked him.
He said witnesses recalled Alfie looking "surprised and shocked" and saying to the defendant: "What are you doing?" as the incident unfolded close to St Margaret's Primary School in Town Street, Horsforth, just before 3pm on November 7 2023.
The prosecutor said: "Alfie did not get as far as meeting any of his friends that day.
"He was approached by (the defendant), and stabbed twice - once in the chest and once in the leg.
"He collapsed and died in the road close to the primary school in full view of scores of pupils leaving school and the people who were waiting to collect them."
The prosecutor said a post-mortem examination revealed that the fatal stab injury was a 14cm deep wound to Alfie's chest which punctured his heart.
Mr Hassall told the jury at Leeds Crown Court: "(The defendant) then fled the scene, dropping the murder weapon in the road close to the primary school."
He said all the witnesses were "consistent" in saying that Alfie was "not the aggressor" that day.
"Several of the witnesses speak of Alfie seeming surprised and shocked at what (the defendant) was doing," Mr Hassall told the court.
"Several of them recall hearing Alfie ask of (the defendant): 'What are you doing?'
"None of the witnesses heard Alfie shouting at or threatening (the defendant).
"Insofar as any of the witnesses saw Alfie doing anything towards (the defendant), they describe him trying in vain to defend himself from (the defendant's) knife."
The defendant, who cannot be named, told the jury he was scared of Alfie following two incidents in the months before.
The latter of these happened on Halloween when, according to the teenager, he walked past Alfie's house with a bag of fireworks and Alfie said to him: "Give me the bag or something worse than last time is going to happen."
The defendant said that, when he returned to school after a half-term break, he decided to take a knife from the kitchen drawer to protect himself.
Describing the incident on November 7, he told the jury he aimlessly swung the knife to keep Alfie away, adding: "I was just trying to protect my own life."
The 15-year-old will be sentenced at a later date.