Laindon: Teenager guilty of James Gibbons murder

A teenager has been found guilty of the murder of a father who was attacked after giving food from his daughters' birthday party to a homeless man.

James Gibbons, 34, confronted a group of youths outside his house after they tried to steal food from the man's plate in Laindon, Essex, on 2 May.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Mr Gibbons chased them and was stabbed four times.

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied murder and claimed he acted in self-defence.

The boy was was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 to two following the trial.

The court was told a homeless man, Christopher French, had gone to Mr Gibbons' home in Iris Mews "in the hope of being given food" from a barbecue the family were having to celebrate the girls' second birthdays.

Mr French was given some food and, as he sat outside, a group of youths walked past.

One pulled the hood on Mr French's top, tried to grab his phone and take food from his plate, prosecutors said.

Mr French said a boy hit him with a brick and Mr Gibbons chased them down an alleyway.

The jury was told that Mr French said he saw the father-of-four was hurt so went to his house to ask for an ambulance to be called.

Mr Gibbons' partner, Victoria Billingham, told the jury she heard a "loud thudding at the door", was told to call an ambulance and saw Mr Gibbons was injured.

The court heard no weapon had been found.

Prosecutor Simon Taylor QC told the court the teenager searched on the internet for "stabbing in Laindon" and "consequences of accidentally killing someone" in the early hours of 3 May.

He said a youth heard the defendant say, in a phone call on loudspeaker to another youth: "I chinged him 25 times".

"According to [the youth, the defendant] was laughing as he said it," said Mr Taylor, adding the youth's understanding was that "chinged" meant stabbed.

The 16-year-old said he thought Mr Gibbons was going to stab him after he saw an object he thought was a knife.

He told the court he had only meant to scare Mr Gibbons by wielding a knife he had earlier taken from a nearby garden shed.

He said he "lashed out" and "did not know how many times he stabbed" Mr Gibbons.

But the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found him guilty after earlier being given a majority direction by the judge.

The defendant was remanded in custody while a pre-sentence report is prepared about him.

He will be sentenced on a date to be fixed in about three weeks' time.

In a statement read outside the court, Mr Gibbons' mother, Wendy Richards, said he was "a loving son, a devoted father to his four children, a protective brother, uncle, cousin and a perfect partner and soul mate to his fiancée, Victoria".

She said: "James did not like bullies, and he would always be the one who would protect and look out for vulnerable people."

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