Jury finds boy defendant guilty of murdering Oldbury schoolboy Jahziah Coke

A teenager has been convicted of murdering a 13-year-old boy during what he told jurors was a drug-related row.

After a month long trial, during which the jury heard details of the knife fight which led to the death of the schoolboy at a house in Oldbury on August 29 last year, the jury informed Wolverhampton Crown Court of their verdicts today (Friday).

About 20 minutes after being given directions to find a majority decision, the jury found the boy guilty of murder by 10 to 2. They had deliberated for nine hours and 31 minutes over three days in total before convicting the teenage boy who cannot be identified because of his age.

There was an option for manslaughter for the boy which was not needed due to the guilty murder verdict. 

The youth, sitting in the well of the court beside his mother, showed no emotion as he watched the verdict being returned by the foreman of the jury.

A man aged in his 40s charged with assisting an offender by harbouring the juvenile defendant was found not guilty by the jury and will be released from custody.

Jahziah’s killer, who denied deliberately inflicting any injuries, fled over fences and then caught a bus to a friend’s house to play video games in the hours after the killing, the court heard. 

Jurors were told the victim was found dead in the hallway of the house, close to the foot of a staircase, by paramedics responding to a 999 call made by the defendant.

Forensic evidence, included diluted blood found on a kitchen chair, suggested an attempt had been made to “clean up” something or someone after the killing.

Sentence in the case and a ruling on a press application to lift reporting restrictions has been adjourned until June.

Judge Amanda Tipples told the court the boy would be sentenced after detailed reports. The boy will be finally given his sentence in June by Judge Tipples.

The judge thanked the jury for their public service by completing the long and complicated trial. She also excused them from future jury service for life. 

The judge told the jurors: “This, as you well know, has been a tragic case in which a 13-year-old child was killed.”

Jahziah suffered a six-inch deep chest wound inflicted with severe force which almost completely cut through one of his ribs.