TEENAGER GUILTY IN TORTURE CASE
A teenager was yesterday found guilty of torturing and murdering a 14-year-old boy whose body was then dismembered.Matthew Welsh, 19, was the ringleader of a gang of three friends who savagely beat and tortured Adam Morrell in a sustained attack.
The court heard that during a night in November last year, Adam was in the company of Welsh and others as they drank and took drugs at a house in Loughborough.
Adam, described by police as a "likeable rogue" who had never been in "real trouble" despite being excluded from school, began to whinge about his girlfriend, which annoyed Welsh.
This led to Welsh punching Adam and initiating a prolonged assault.
Nathan Barnett, aged 27, admitted strangling Adam to death and dismembering his body in his house in Loughborough.
Barnett pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Sarah Morris, Welsh's girlfriend aged 17, was found guilty of seriously assaulting Adam but was cleared of his murder.
Daniel Biggs, aged 19, admitted being present during the attack but claimed he did not participate.
The court was told that after the attack, Barnett announced his intention to strangle Adam.
Barnett then placed Adam's body in a bath, used a saw to dismember it, and scattered the body parts across Loughborough, all of which the four men admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Justice Morland remanded Welsh and the others in custody before sentencing scheduled for December 17.
