Man handed a life sentence for the murder of a teenager in Stockton

A 32-year-old man from Stockton has been found guilty of the murder of Taylor Black.

Nathan Costello has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years for stabbing the 18-year-old to death inside his property on 17th February 2020.

Taylor Black’s mum spoke of the result today:

“On behalf of myself and Taylor’s family and friends, we welcome today’s guilty verdict of murder. We would like to thank the police for all of their hard work in the case and for their continued support throughout.

“We would also like to thank our barrister, the judge and the jury for their guilty verdict which has given Taylor the justice that he deserved.

"Nothing can ever bring my beautiful, gentle, kind hearted son back, but at least now we have justice for him we can try to move on as a family and we can take small steps each day to try to live our lives in the way which Taylor would want us to.

“Thank you to everyone for all their support through this very difficult time, but we now as a family would like to be left alone to grieve for Taylor”.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Murder Investigation Team said:

“We are pleased with today’s verdict and are grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation. Nathan Costello took the life of Taylor Black in the most brutal of circumstances and today he has been sentenced to a minimum of 19 years in prison for his unforgiveable actions on that day.

“Taylor did not deserve to die. He was a young man with a promising future and was clearly loved by all who knew him.

“This was a pre-planned attack, Costello had previously threatened to harm Taylor prior to him being murdered and he proceeded to take his life in the most violent way possible. He has shown no remorse for what he has done and has offered no explanation for his actions to any of Taylor’s family.

“Costello entered a not guilty plea, and in doing so, added to the suffering of Taylor’s family; who have had to endure a painful and arduous trial which has involved graphic detail of his actions on that fateful day.

“I would like to take this opportunity to commend Taylor’s family for the way in which they conducted themselves through the trial and for the courage and strength shown by them throughout the course of the investigation.

“No guilty verdict, or sentence, will ever bring Taylor back but I sincerely hope they can take some form of comfort from knowing that Costello will spend a significant time imprisoned for his crime.”