Mikey Roynon was stabbed to death at a friend’s birthday party (Picture: SWNS/PA)
A teenage boy has been convicted of murder and two more of manslaughter after another was stabbed to death at a birthday party.
Mikey Roynon was just 16 when he was stabbed in the neck with a ‘zombie knife’ at a house party celebrating a friend’s 16th birthday last June in Bath, Somerset.
Mikey ran out of the house and collapsed outside the party venue in Weston – but although paramedics and doctors arrived at the scene quickly, they weren’t able to save his life.
The defendants ran off and threw away their weapons, two of which were recovered by police.
One defendant was found guilty of murder while two others were found guilty of manslaughter.
None of them can be named due to their age.
Mikey was only 16 when he was killed (Picture: SWNS)
The 16-year-old claimed he was acting in self defence when he stabbed Mikey, claiming he had swung a knife towards him in the garden.
But the jury saw through his story following a trial at Bristol crown court.
Detective Inspector Mark Newbury said: ‘That three boys armed themselves with knives to go to a teenage girl’s 16th birthday party is utterly unconscionable.
‘Mikey went to that party to socialise and to have a good time. Instead, he was attacked with a horrifying weapon, suffered a catastrophic injury and tragically lost his life.
‘Mikey was a much loved teenage boy and his family have been left totally devastated.
‘They have shown incredible bravery and have courageously spoken out against knife crime since his death, which is something they should never have to do.
He ran outside where he collapsed on the driveway of the party venue (Picture: PA)
‘Since Mikey’s death, other young lives have been lost across our policing area and as a result we have launched a proactive operation to tackle and disrupt serious violence and knife crime involving young people.
‘However, we know police enforcement alone won’t solve the problem and we’re working closely with our local authority partners, our colleagues in education and health and the Violence Reduction Partnership to identify the root causes and divert young people away from criminality.
‘Our communities are also key and we’d like to encourage parents to talk to their children about knife crime – to make sure that they understand the terrible consequences carrying a knife can have and also how to report if they have concerns about someone they know carrying a knife.’
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All three boys denied murder. Two of them had pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article. The third boy denied this charge, but was found guilty of it by the jury.
They’re all set to be sentenced on May 3.
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