A mother and her teenage son have been found guilty of killing a 17-year-old boy in a machete attack in south London.
Nichola Leighton, 36, and her son Tyreese Ulysses, 19, had been on trial along with three teenagers over the death of Levi Ernest-Morrison.
On the evening of 10 April, Leighton drove Ulysses to the scene of the attack after becoming “furious” with the victim for repeatedly knocking on her door looking for her son, jurors at the Old Bailey were told.
Armed with knives, Ulysses had gathered a group of friends after learning that Ernest-Morrison was “bothering” his mother.
They jumped out of Leighton’s red Suzuki 4x4 jeep and some of the group chased the victim and one of his friends, before he was caught and fatally stabbed.
The attack in Sydenham took just 30 seconds before the group sprinted back to the waiting car, driven by Leighton, prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told the court.
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 with 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.”
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.
She was found guilty of murder and having an offensive weapon. Her son admitted having a weapon, and 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 teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were also unanimously convicted of murder after admitting to having weapons. The jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on a murder charge for a 15-year-old.
The defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced on 28 January 2022.