Family handoutThree teenagers have been found guilty of murdering a 17-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in a vape shop.
Reuben Higgins was attacked on Station Road, Marston Green, Solihull, on 29 October and died at the scene.
Abdurrahman Summers, 18, and two 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named due to their age, were convicted of murder by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday.
The three teenagers, who had denied the charges against them, are due to be sentenced on 5 August.
During the trial, a witness who was working at the Vape Minimarket on the day of the attack described how a “confused and frightened” Reuben ran into the shop just before 18:30 GMT.
Reuben used his body to barricade the door in an attempt to stop a group of people from following him into the shop, the witness added.
He said his limited English meant he could not understand everything that was being said but the group was “very aggressive”.
Eventually the attackers burst through the door, picked Reuben up and moved him to the corner of the shop where they attacked him.
“I saw he was bleeding on his thigh and then he was holding his chest as well by his hand,” said the witness.
“He was shouting. He was screaming and he was in pain. It seems to me he was asking for help.”
The defendants did not give evidence at their trial but statements they gave police were read out in evidence.
Summers, from Yardley, denied knowing Reuben and attacking him, adding he had played “no part in this tragedy”.
One of the 15-year-olds said he was involved in an “altercation” in the shop, after there had been “aggression” between his group of friends and another, but denied stabbing Reuben.
The other 15-year-old did not submit a statement to police.
The court was told a fourth suspect was believed to have fled the country.
