A 15-year-old boy has been detained for a minimum of 12 years after he stabbed another teenager to death.

“I’ve wetted your boy,” Leighton Amies shouted at a gang after stabbing 14-year-old Tomasz Oleszak in the chest at a nature park in Gateshead last October.

“It was a boast,” prosecutor Mark McKone KC told jurors during his trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Amies was convicted of murdering Tomasz last month.

Amies – also 14 at the time – was walking through Whitehills Nature Park with his girlfriend at about 8pm when a group of youths followed them.

He was carrying a serrated kitchen knife in his jacket pocket for “reassurance”, he said.

After being found guilty, trial judge Mr Justice Spencer lifted a ban on the media identifying him, to deter other teenagers from carrying knives.

Peter Makepeace KC, defending, told jurors that Amies had not been looking for trouble.

“This is a 14-year-old under group attack and having to make terrible decisions under a moment’s notice,” he said.

Amies, who slashed another group member’s coat, was also convicted of a charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

He had previously admitted carrying a blade.

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