A CREWE teenager found guilty of murdering a man on a Winsford estate was branded a "young thug who had been causing devastation over the last few years".

A jury at Chester Crown Court took more than 11 hours to unanimously find the 17-year-old guilty of the murder of Keagan Crimes on October 11, 2020.

Mr Crimes, 27, died hours after being stabbed through the heart by a large machete-style knife wielded by the youth at Cheviot Square.

Judge Steven Everett adjourned sentencing until February 21, but said the teenager would be "detained for life" with a minimum term, which will be of at least 12 years, set at the next hearing.

The judge said the youth would also be sentenced for an aggravated burglary conviction, committed two months after he killed Mr Crimes.

He was said to have held a knife to a householder during a break-in and then threatened "to slice them up".

"I see what this young thug has done over the last few years and I have seen the devastation he has caused," said the judge.

The teenager shook his head as sentence was passed and before he was led down from the dock he made a gesture to a friend in the gallery who was then banished from the court by the judge.

The crown court trial ran into a seventh week having started on December 10, during which time the jury heard how a late-night altercation had developed in Cheviot Square fuelled by threats, drug taking and drink, ending in tragedy.

It culminated in the youth arming himself with a large knife to accompany his friends as they went to the shopping precinct to "frighten off" a group of older men who had issued threats at a nearby flat.

But the court was told that after his associates fled the youth carried on wielding the knife as he was pursued by the men.

He denied he had meant to kill or seriously injure Mr Crimes when he stabbed him and that he was frightened for his own life and feared the men were going to hurt him.

After the killing he fled and made his way back to his Crewe home in a taxi after calling his mother.

He returned to Winsford the next day to retrieve the weapon and buried it in a field, although it was never recovered by Cheshire Police.

After being arrested with some of his associates in the weeks after, the youth was eventually charged with Mr Crimes' murder in June of last year.

After the verdict, the family of Mr Crimes said their lives had been shattered by his killing and said he had been in the "wrong place at the wrong time".

"Our gorgeous, fun loving boy was viscously and violently, taken away from us. We never fully understood the word 'devastated' until that day this is not an exaggeration we are truly devastated," said the family in a statement.

"Keagan was a smashing lad, was liked by all of his friends, the life and soul of any gathering. He could be boisterous at times, but also had a sensitive side and would help anyone out.

"It made it so much worse knowing he was taken away from us so cruelly and needlessly as Keag was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The family said Mr Crimes had been due to start a new job on the day he died.

"He was really looking forward to it, all taken away in a mere 15 seconds because someone decided they would take a knife out. A knife they used to kill him," they added.

"The defendant knew what he did from day one, the evidence backs that up, but he still decided to put us through a trial by pleading not guilty.

"Because of his vicious and violent actions we have to live without a large part of our family, our little brother, our children's uncle, my mum's youngest child and only son.

"We will never understand why the defendant did what he did that night and no amount of apologies will ever be enough, because I don't believe he is sorry for what he did. I believe he is only sorry that he got caught.

"This isn't a case of you live by the sword you die by the sword, as some people may think, going on what they read. The people who know Keagan know that this isn't the case. Keagan knew a lot of people and a lot of people knew him.

"That weekend he was with friends of friends to party and have a good time, he never deserved this, and he never did anything to justify being killed."

The Crewe youth was also found guilty on Tuesday of wounding Jason McQuoid with intent and he has previously admitted possessing a knife.

During the trial prosecutor Gordon Cole QC asked the youth whether it was not the case he had gone out looking for trouble with the knife and that he had been "intent on inflicting injury and intent on using the knife".

One witness recalled his surprise when he came across him after turning a corner on the precinct.

"When I looked it was only a little kid, but he had a Rambo knife and he came running towards me," he said.

While he claimed he acted in self-defence, fearing for his life - Mr Quoid was said to have been armed with a large branch - the court heard about his aggressive behaviour.

It was said he was told to drop the blade, but he had kept telling the men, "Come on, come on".

Despite stumbling on a grass embankment, the teenager picked himself up and charged at the men with the knife in hand.

After stabbing Mr McQuoid in the back and side, he lunged at Mr Crimes, who had come racing towards him.

When he was asked "who had sent him?", he was said to have told the men that he was "15 and from Bootle".

One witness recalled how the youth moved his hand "down with a stabbing motion" as Mr Crimes ran for him.

The court was told Mr Crimes was not the "fighting kind", "not a hooligan", but that he had no fear when drunk.

But he ran headlong into the path of the youth who wielded the knife with a "fast, downward motion to the chest" after he had "swung it around as if there was no tomorrow".

He was said to have shouted "I'm a stabber" and had been "like a wild animal, probably frightened for his life, but….crazy".

Asked if the youth reacted to Mr Crimes running at him, one witness said: "Of course he did, he stabbed him to death."

After stabbing the men, the teenager barricaded himself into a kebab/chip shop on the square before eventually making his escape into a wooded area.

Mr Crimes passed away at the Royal Stoke Hospital in the early hours of the following day (October 12, 2020).

Two other youths, who were aged 15 and 16 at the time on the incident, were charged with affray and handed 12-month intensive youth referral orders in July last year.

Det. Insp Adam Waller, who led the Cheshire Police investigation, said: "Our thoughts remain very much with Keagan's family during what has been an incredibly difficult time for them. I hope that, in some way, the verdict helps to bring about a degree of closure for them.

"Throughout the investigation the teenager has shown no remorse for Keagan's death or the injuries he inflicted upon Jason McQuoid.

"Until he gave evidence he has never admitted where he disposed of the knife that was used to kill Keagan and seriously injure the other two men and he even searched for news of the killing online.

"From the outset he has done everything he can to cover his tracks and dispose of evidence.

"I also want to thank members of the community of Winsford as we very much relied upon information and evidence from them in securing this conviction ad getting justice for Keagan."

"This has been a challenging and lengthy investigation. It was only after this weight of evidence was put in front of the defendant did he take any responsibility for Keagan's death."

Judge Everett said he would need to review all the features of the case and would have to give consideration over any extra tariff he applied to the youth's overall sentence for other offending.

He warned: "I don't see it [the sentence] going down, it's how far it goes up. The youth offending team need to be realistic. There's no point in them telling me he's a 'little boy lost', because he's not that."