Killers face life for Shane Watson Sedgley murder

Shylon Wishart, aged 19, showed no emotion as jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court took just over an hour to deliver their guilty verdict for the killing on July 28 last year.

Family members and friends of popular Wolves fan Mr Watson, including his mother Jane, wept as the verdict was given yesterday.

A seven-day trial heard that Wishart and 18-year-old James Cartwright, who had earlier admitted murder, punched, kicked and stamped on Mr Watson in the alleyway off Springfield Grove in Sedgley.

A seven-day trial heard that the two attackers stripped Mr Watson and took pictures of themselves urinating on him after they had beaten him.

The victim had become separated from his girlfriend Kelly Handley after the pair had left Monty's Bar in the High Street.

And when a concerned Miss Handley and Mrs Watson tried to contact their loved one, they were callously told that he was "dead at the bottom of the alley".

The court was told that Wishart and Cartwright attended a house party in a "hyper" mood after the killing.

Revellers told jurors how they were shown photos of the victim by the pair, who boasted about "just knocking out Shane".

But the killers were snared by police and arrested within 10 hours of the attack after witnesses went to the police and told them about what they had seen at the party.

Officers arrested the duo at their Sedgley homes. Wishart's trainers and jeans, as well as a pair of Cartwright's trainers, were discovered the rear garden of Wishart's property. Each of the items contained Mr Watson's blood, while a mobile phone cover belonging to the victim was also found.

Mr Watson's mother today described how she and her family had been "devastated" by the loss. Meanwhile, detectives revealed how members of the Sedgley community helped secure the convictions of the killers.

Cartwright, of Sandyfields Road, and Wishart, of North Springfield, will be sentenced together at a date to be fixed.

Wishart was warned by Judge John Warner that only a sentence of life in prison could be imposed. The judge told him: "The only thing to determine is the minimum term you serve before you can be considered for release."

Disgusting - Special report in today's Express & Star