Teen killer who slept with knife bragged about it on Snapchat just hours before Queens Road murderA teenager who slept with a knife bragged about it on Snapchat just hours before killing Tom Ellis in Nuneaton town centre. The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had posted an image of the weapon taken on the floor of a toilet at Nuneaton's Asda store onto social media.
Just hours later, on the evening of Saturday, June 8, he used the large hunter-style knife with a red skull on the handle to stab the 25-year-old in Queens Road. The teen, who is now 17, had got into verbal argument with the sports mad local man.
But Mr Ellis walked off, only for the teen to follow him. They had another argument before Mr Ellis walked off again, only for the teen to follow him yet again.
This led to a physical altercation, every move of which was caught on CCTV camera, which led to the teen stabbing the former Higham Lane School pupil in the chest before running off, leaving him for dead. Earlier today (September 20) Judge Andrew Lockhart KC at Warwick Crown Court sentenced him to life in prison, with a minimum term of 13 years and three months after the youth earlier pleaded guilty to murder.
He also has to serve a 12 month detention and training order. It means that the now 17-year-old will be 30-years-old when he can apply to be considered for parole.
The prosecutor went on to explain that chillingly, after the stabbing, the teenager ran off and hid under a car, while a helicopter was circling above, telling a fellow teen who was with him: "You are not spilling it, you know." He then called his mum to pick him up.
"20 minutes later, at the defendant's request, she (his mum), had returned to McDonald's to collect his order. He told her that the food had taken too long to make and he had left as he was bored.
"When she spoke to him, she noticed nothing different about him. The prosecution case is that the defendant knew he had stabbed Tom Ellis, must have known or feared he had inflicted a serious injury but went back to get his McDonald's.
Later that evening, he messaged a female friend and accused her of kissing someone. The prosecutor said: "He spoke about 'bursting with anger', and said in the message that she had kissed someone.
"He said in this message 'I wanted to cry and kill someone, but I didn't do either'." The prosecutor said the following day (Sunday, June 9) he searched on a news website about the incident, and then searched again the following day - on Monday, June 10.
He went on to say that he was arrested that day and when police searched his home. They found an arsenal of weapons, including two other knives, two hammers and an axe. They also found the murder weapon, in his bedroom, which was wet in its black sheath as he had used bleach to clean it.
