Elijah Clark guilty of killing Andy Wood by manslaughter in Essex

Elijah Clark, 20, admitted he had started selling drugs in Chelmsford since moving there from London

A drug dealer has been found guilty of killing a teenager after he stabbed him during a scuffle in a wooded area.

Andy Wood, 16, suffered "uncontrollable bleeding" from the stab wound delivered to his neck on 12 February last year.

Elijah Clark, 20, met with rival drug dealer Mr Wood to buy cannabis in Chelmsford but stabbed him after he was "attacked".

Clark, of Gloucester Avenue in the city, was convicted of manslaughter and will be sentenced at a later date.

The three-week trial was told how Clark met Mr Wood in a wooded area at a park in Waterson Vale shortly before midnight on 12 February 2023.

Clark, who admitted he had started selling drugs in the city since moving there from London, was wearing a balaclava when he approached his victim.

Andy Wood has been described by the prosecutor as a "bit of a hippy who loved skateboarding"

Giving evidence during the trial, the defendant alleged Mr Wood and another man had attacked him with knives and he acted in self-defence having taken a blade off Mr Wood.

"I put the knife in the direction of Andy and I felt it connect and the other male ran off and so I ran away," he told the court.

Mr Wood, from Braintree, died from a single stab wound to the neck before the defendant fled the scene with a "military style knife", jurors were told.

The blade had never been found after the incident, prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said.

He told the jury that Clark murdered Mr Wood as he wanted to "demonstrate his authority" and saw him as an "interloper" encroaching on his patch.

He added: "We suggest [Clark] saw himself as something of a drug dealer with a status and a standing he was keen to record."

Andy Wood collapsed not far from where he was stabbed in Waterson Vale, Chelmsford

The jury cleared Clark of murder and having a bladed article in public after almost 19 hours of deliberations.

It found him guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Wood and assault occasioning actual bodily harm of the second man.

Clark was remanded in custody until his sentencing, which was not given a fixed date during a hearing earlier.

Speaking after the verdicts, Mr Wood's family paid tribute to their "fantastic human being".

"Nothing will bring our awesome Andy back, but today's verdict gives us a small amount of comfort and possibly some sort of closure to allow us to properly grieve going forward," they said.

"The people that knew Andy will know what a fantastic human being he was and he will be remembered by all that he touched."

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