Levi Ernest-Morrison: Mother and son guilty over machete attack on boy

Levi Ernest-Morrison, shown with his younger brother, died in Sydenham on Saturday 10 April

A mother and son have been found guilty of killing a 17-year-old boy in a machete attack.

Nichola Leighton, 36, became "furious" after Levi Ernest-Morrison and his friends kept knocking on her door looking for her son Tyreese Ulysses.

When 19-year-old Ulysses learned they were "bothering" his mother, he rallied friends, all armed with knives.

Levi was chased in Sydenham, south London, before being fatally stabbed on the evening of 10 April.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones QC had said the attack took just 30 seconds.

After the attack, the youths sprinted back to a red Suzuki which sped away and was driven by Leighton, the Old Bailey heard.

During the trial it emerged there were gang associations on both sides.

The Old Bailey heard the attackers had links to the LDG gang based in Sydenham and their targets belonged to Block 6 from Catford.

'Rallied the troops'

Mr Emlyn Jones said: "That evening, when Levi and the others came knocking on her door, Nichola Leighton was furious.

"She rang the police about it and told the police that if the boys came back, she was going to batter them.

"But before she had phoned the police, she contacted her son Tyreese Ulysses.

"The prosecution say that having heard from his mum that Levi and his friends had come round to his mum's house and were bothering her, he then rallied the troops."

Most of the attack was caught on CCTV, on which Leighton could be heard encouraging the chasers to catch the boys.

Nichola Leighton, 36, and son Tyreese Ulysses, 19 were found guilty of killing Levi Ernest-Morrison in a machete attack

Leighton admitted driving the boys to the scene but denied being aware they were armed, while her son claimed they only wanted to scare off the gang.

Leighton, of Sydenham, was found guilty of murder and having an offensive weapon.

Ulysses, from Catford, south London, who admitted having a weapon, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by a majority of 10 to two after a jury deliberated for more than 40 hours.

Two youths, aged 16 and 17, who had also admitted having weapons, were unanimously convicted of murder.

The defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced on 28 January next year.

The jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on a charge of murder relating to another youth, aged 15.