A boy who was convicted of murder after he killed a 14-year-old at a nature park in Gateshead has been named as Leighton Amies.
His victim, Tomasz Oleszak, died in the early hours of October 4 last year after he being stabbed.
Judge Mr Justice Spencer lifted a reporting ban on Amies’ name that was put in place due to his age, saying it was important to try and discourage young people from carrying knives.
Newcastle Crown Court had previously heard that the boy shouted ‘I’m gonna wet you’ before stabbing Tomasz deep in the chest.
Amies, who was also 14 at the time of the incident but has since turned 15, had denied murder.
He claimed in court that he did not know he had stabbed the boy and slashed another youth’s coat after being attacked by a gang.
Jurors heard he had been walking through Whitehills Nature Park with his girlfriend at around 8pm on the night of the incident, carrying a serrated kitchen knife in his jacket pocket which he said was for ‘reassurance’.
A group of youths followed the couple, and the killer used the knife on Tomasz before shouting to the gang: ‘I’ve wetted your boy’, the court was told.
Peter Makepeace KC, defending, told the jury the teenager had not been looking for trouble, saying: ‘This is a 14-year-old under group attack and having to make terrible decisions under a moment’s notice.’
Amies was also convicted of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm on the other member of the group whose coat he slashed.
Explaining his reasoning behind lifting the ban on reporting the 15-year-old’s name, the judge said: ‘There is a public interest in trying to deflect young people from the carrying of knives, where when that happens, this kind of utterly tragic outcome can occur.’
He added: ‘In my judgement, the public interest in reporting fully of these proceedings, including the identity of the defendant, in fact outweighs the interests of the defendant in having the anonymity of his identity maintained.’