Teen jailed for life for mobile phone park murder

A teenager has been given a life sentence for murdering a 17-year-old boy in a mobile phone robbery.

Harleigh Hepworth was stabbed in the heart in a Wolverhampton park in March, when two teenagers he had arranged to meet with a friend stole his mobile phone.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was jailed on Tuesday at Manchester Crown Court alongside Jovarn Esterine, 18, who was sentenced to six years and 43 days for his manslaughter.

Harleigh's family said he had his "short life ended in an instant through a moment of mindless aggression."

The 17-year-old, who was also found guilty of robbery and having a bladed article, was told he would serve a minimum of 18 years in prison.

Harleigh, from Rugeley, Staffordshire, and a friend travelled to Wolverhampton and met his eventual killers in West Park, Det Insp Ade George said.

The two offenders told them they needed to use phones but had run out of data and wanted to use Harleigh and his friend's, he added.

They then started using the phones, messaging each other on their Snapchat accounts, despite being only a few feet away from each other.

"We know from one of the messages we recovered [there] was a reference from Esterine to the younger offender 'do they know about delick' and delick is a street name for robbery," Det Insp George said.

Harleigh realised something "wasn't quite right" when the pair asked for their PIN.

"On that basis he then started asking for his phone back. There's no evidence that Harleigh was aggressive... or made any threats, he just simply asked for his phone back," he said.

But the offenders decided they wanted the phones "by any means" and "it was then they pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed him to the chest which pierced his heart and caused his death".

As Harleigh was stabbed, Esterine put his arm around his friend to stop him getting involved, the force said.

Afterwards, Esterine held a knife to the friend's chest, threatening to kill him unless he handed over the passcode to his phone, which they then stole.

He then fled, dropping one of the stolen phones in a nearby drain, police said.

Harleigh, who lived with his grandfather and had turned 17 two weeks before his death, died at the scene despite passers-by giving him first aid.

His family said he had positive plans for his future.

"Harleigh had a great sense of humour, he was funny, and he was polite," they said.

"We will miss him massively, but we will always remember his cheekiness, his infectious smile and the fun times we had together.

"Harleigh's is another young life lost before they had the chance to know what life is about."

Det Insp George said the case was shocking and the planning that went into the incident showed "the callous nature of the offenders".

As well as the life sentence, the teenager was given concurrent sentences of five years and three years for two counts of robbery - and 10 months for having a knife.

Esterine, who was also convicted of robbery and having a bladed article, was sentenced for two counts of robbery.

He was given four years for one count and two years and six months for the other, as well as 10 months for having a knife, all to run concurrently to his manslaughter sentence.

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