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.
Welsh's girlfriend, Sarah Morris, 17, was found guilty at Nottingham crown court of seriously assaulting Adam but was cleared of his murder.
Nathan Barnett, 27, admitted strangling Adam to death and dismembering his body in a house in Loughborough.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
A fourth man, Daniel Biggs, 19, was cleared by the jury of any part in Adam's murder or the assault which left him with 280 injuries.
Mr Justice Morland yesterday remanded Adam's three assailants in custody before sentencing on December 17.
The court heard that on a night in November last year, Adam had been with the gang as they drank and took drugs in a house in Loughborough.
Adam was described by police as a 'likeable rogue' who, though excluded from school, had never been in any 'real trouble'.
During the evening, Adam began to 'whinge' about his girlfriend.
This seemingly annoyed Welsh, who punched Adam.
It was the beginning of a sustained attack.
Biggs admitted being present during the attack, but said he did not take part.
On the day following the attack, Biggs told the court, Barnett announced he was going to strangle Adam.
Barnett then put Adam's body in a bath, used a saw to dismember it, then put it in plastic bags and scattered it across Loughborough.
All four have admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
