Shakilus Townsend's mother has spoken out after seven teenagers were convicted of murdering her 16-year-old son in a honey trap plot.

In a statement read outside court, Nicola Dyer said: “Shakilus' death was a senseless, premeditated murder and nobody deserves to die in the appalling way that my son did, especially not a child.

"I have raised him from the age of seven on my own and he was the eldest of five children. We were very close.

"He was popular and always had girlfriends, but the girl on trial was different. He really cared about her and I can't understand how she could have callously set him up and lured him to his death.

“We will never see him grow into a man and get to live his life and have a family of his own. He will now never become the man it was evident he was becoming. He wasn't trying, he was doing.

"Once someone starts carrying a knife no good can ever come of it. Harm will either come to them or someone else eventually.

"Either way they will pay a heavy cost. We have to stand up and say enough is enough, we won't tolerate knife crime.

“To those young people carrying knives or those in gangs, the next time you're called to 'a madness' take a step back and remember that what you're about to do is exactly that - madness.

“You may think that you are in too deep, but you can change. Don't wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late.”

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