Face of a 16-year-old killer: Three face jail for 'brutal, sudden and shocking' knife murder

Lukasz Furmanek, aged 24, was left in a pool of blood after being knifed in Grove Lane, Handsworth. He later died. Atiqzoy, 18, of Elizabeth Crescent, Oldbury, and Essakhil, 16, of Hobmoor Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, were both found guilty of murder.

They were each also convicted of attempted murder at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday after Radoslaw Dudek, who was also stabbed, was left fighting for his life. Feizullah Atiqzoy, aged 24, of Swan Crescent, Oldbury, was found guilty by a majority of assisting an offender.

The prosecution claimed the two victims were stabbed in a 'chilling' act of violence.

During the trial, Sadam Khan Essakhil's identity remained unknown as is usual in cases involving people under the age of 18.

But after a jury found him guilty of both murder and attempted murder, restrictions on reporting his name were lifted by Judge Patrick Thomas QC.

The judge said members of the public needed to know who had carried out the chilling attack on Lukasz Furmanek and Radoslaw Dudek. Judge Thomas said: "This is a plain case of knife crime committed by two young men on the streets of this city in the middle of the night. Public interest in open justice seems to far outweigh considerations that have been placed before me in respect of these young men." He added: "It will be a life sentence but I must decide how long they serve."

The Crown said Abdullah and Essakhil had acted as a 'joint enterprise' and that both intended to kill. All three will be sentenced on January 15.

Detective Inspector Jim Munro from the force's homicide team, welcomed the guilty verdicts, saying: "This was a completely random attack. The defendants had only crossed paths with the two victims seconds before they attacked them with knives. The attack was sudden, shocking and brutal, which left one man dead and his friend fighting for life. Fortunately Joseph Dudek has made a full recovery. Atiqzoy and Essakhil were guilty of barbaric violence and I welcome the verdicts."

During the trial, the jury were told Mr Furmanek and Mr Dudek were stabbed after being approached by Abdullah and Essakhil on May 31. Schoolboy Essakhil had admitted stabbing Mr Furmanek once but claimed he had acted in self-defence. The 16-year-old also fled to Belgium in the wake of the stabbings before handing himself into police, while Atiqzoy was found in the back of a lorry trying to escape to France.

Judge Patrick Thomas QC lifted reporting restrictions on Essakhil.

Judge Thomas he will hand the pair a life sentence but he has decisions to make on the length of time they will serve.