A teenage murderer is facing life in prison for stabbing a grandfather to death in a park – before boasting to a pal that he had “done an M.”
Evil Leary Dalton-Byrne, 18, attacked Dean Ward with a carving knife after he approached him and demanded a cigarette.
When Mr Ward, 45, said he didn’t smoke, Dalton-Byrne repeatedly stabbed him in the legs before fleeing.
Dean was walking through Finchley Park in Kingstanding, West Mids., with his friend at 6.30am on June 20 when he was attacked.
The victim’s friend tried to flag down another person in the park and called an ambulance and he was rushed to hospital.
Despite desperate attempts to save him, Mr Ward died a week later as a result of complications caused by massive blood loss.
Just hours after the murder Dalton-Byrne turned up at a friend’s house covered in Mr Ward’s blood.
He told him he had “just done and M” but the friend recorded his confession on his phone which he shared online.
Detectives were alerted to the posts on social media and Leary Dalton-Byrne was arrested.
On Friday (14/12) he was found guilty of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.
He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced in February.
By Arun Lal