Seb Mitchell: Harrogate teen jailed for life sentence after house party stabbing

Seb Mitchell's family described him as "beautiful, funny and talented"

A teenager has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 11 years in custody after he murdered his friend by stabbing him while at a house party.

Seb Mitchell, 17, died on 21 February, two days after he was stabbed with a kitchen knife during a gathering of five teenagers at a house in Harrogate.

Dylan Cranfield, also 17, stabbed Seb once in the heart during a drunken argument over a broken mirror.

Judge Guy Kearl KC said Cranfield would be on licence after his release.

"We have heard of the effect to the wider family. Their pain and anguish cannot be measured. Their lives are altered forever, as is yours, as is that of your family," The Recorder of Leeds said.

Cranfield had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denied murder, a trial at Leeds Crown Court previously heard.

The argument happened after the group had been drinking, with a mirror in Cranfield's home being smashed.

He blamed Seb, asking him to pay for the damage caused.

Dylan Cranfield, who admitted manslaughter, was found guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court earlier this year

The court heard that during the argument, a kitchen knife was picked up and pointed towards Seb by Cranfield.

Friends of the pair tried to intervene, with the argument moving into the living room, where the fatal blow was delivered to Seb's heart.

Judge Kearl said he did not believe there was a motive to kill, or that the attack was pre-planned. He did, however, agree with the jury that the defendant had wanted to at least cause Seb serious injury.

Statements read out in court by the family described how Seb's death had affected their lives.

His mother, Sonya Mitchell, said she struggled to sleep at night and would wake up startled.

"Friends do not kill their friends. That night the murderer committed the ultimate betrayal," she told the court.

She described her son as "one of the good guys, the best".

"The life sentence of pain and misery that will never, ever leave us. Every day and every night I wish it had been me that had been killed instead of our beautiful son."

One of Seb's four brothers, Tom Mitchell, said his life had been "shattered forever".

"The mere thought of your absence floods my heart with a torrent of pain and sorrow," he said.

Another brother, Sam Mitchell, told Cranfield, who was sitting in the dock wearing a grey suit, he hoped he would have time in prison to reflect on what he had done.

"Never forget, this is a result of the choices and actions of one person. He sheds no tears for Seb, only the consequences of his own actions."