A teenage boy who bragged about carrying a knife has been convicted of murdering a 22-year-old man in Bartley Green, Birmingham.
Police said that then-16-year-old Cameron Martin-Leon was drunk when Alex Leonard challenged him over his aggressive behaviour in Woodgate Gardens last July.
In response, the teenager stabbed Leonard in the chest. Paramedics were unable to save Leonard and he later died in hospital.
Witnesses said that Martin-Leon had bragged to them about carrying a knife for protection on the day of the murder, according to police.
Martin-Leon reportedly became aggressive outside Leonard’s girlfriend’s home. A court heard how he said he felt like “smashing” up her car, according to the newspaper, and he had been shouting, swearing, and kicking over bins. When Leonard confronted him, he knifed him once through the chest.
The judge lifted reporting restrictions on the identity of Cameron Martin-Leon, now 17, allowing him to be named. He has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years.
In a statement, the family of Alexander Leonard said, “Lives have been destroyed and families traumatised. Life as we knew it ceased to be on 3 July 2017.
“Two mothers have had their dreams and aspirations for their sons shattered and broken as are our hearts and the hearts of everyone who knew Alex.”
They urged for more to be done on a local and national level to tackle knife crime.
“There currently seems to be an epidemic of knife crime sweeping through our communities, we are living within a culture of fear,” they said in the statement.
Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield from West Midland’s Police homicide unit called the murder a “tragic reminder of the dangers of anyone carrying a knife.”
