A teenager was found guilty today of the murder of Anthony Walker, a black student bludgeoned to death with an axe in Liverpool.
Michael Barton (17), the younger brother of Manchester City soccer player Joey Barton, had denied killing the 18-year-old college student in Huyton, near Liverpool, in July.
"This was a totally unprovoked and racially motivated attack," a spokesman for Merseyside Police said after the murder.
Earlier this month, another man Paul Taylor (20), admitted killing Walker before his trial was due to start at Liverpool Crown Court.
Police said Walker was escorting his white girlfriend Louise Thompson (17), to a bus stop when he was set upon by a group of youths. The attack came just minutes after he had been taunted with racist abuse.
Both Walker and Barton fled the country following the attack but later returned to Liverpool following a televised appeal from Barton's premiership footballer brother.
During his trial, Michael Barton said he was not a racist and denied that the axe used to kill Walker was his.
Walker's killing shocked the local community and attracted massive media attention evoking memories of the 1993 high-profile racist killing of Stephen Lawrence in southeast London. Thousands of mourners crammed into Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral for his funeral.
After his death, Walker's family learnt that the teenager, a devout Christian, had gained straight A passes in his recent AS-level school exams.