Teenager convicted of killing man with machete

A teenager has been convicted of murder after a man was stabbed with a machete in a confrontation near a children's play area.

Tieran Carmody, 19, was found guilty of the murder of Max Richardson, 35, in Harlow, Essex, after a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Carmody was seen smoking cannabis by young people near a playground at Joyners Field on the evening of 21 August, who alerted adults because they were scared.

Mr Richardson confronted Carmody and challenged him on what he was doing in the area before he was stabbed with his hands held up in a surrender pose.

Mr Richardson, from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital of a single stab wound to the torso.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson had told the court Carmody was "simply not willing to be challenged on what he was doing there [Joyners Field]" and added: "He was not acting in a way of lawful self-defence and his intention was to kill or at the very least to harm."

Carmody, who denied murder, was unanimously found guilty by the jury. He will be sentenced at a later date.

The trial was told Mr Richardson, who was described by police as a family man with young children, and another man had approached Carmody and asked him what he was doing.

Carmody threw a punch at the victim and all three men ended up on the ground before Carmody walked towards his bicycle to retrieve a foot-long (30cm) machete from his rucksack.

Mr Richardson put his hands in a surrender pose, as did the other adults at the scene, but Mr Jackson told jurors the defendant stabbed the victim in "an act of revenge" for having been challenged.

Carmody, of Berecroft, Harlow, had tried to flee the country after the attack, the court heard.

Harrison Barnett, 19, of St Mary’s Crescent, Basildon, Essex, who helped Carmody evade police after the murder, was also on trial and the jury found him guilty of perverting the course of justice.

After the verdict, Det Ch Insp Ashley Howard, of Essex Police, said: “Max had everything ahead of him. Instead, he was killed for simply caring about the safety of his neighbourhood.

“He died because Carmody chose to carry a large knife with him, a knife Carmody stated he carried for safety, however it was this weapon he used to murder a stranger.

“Carmody murdered Max for no other reason than he felt affronted that someone had dared to stand up to him."

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