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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Andrew Bardsley

Mum of murdered teen slams killer for making 'cutthroat' gesture at her in court

The mum of a murdered teenager has hit out at his killer after he allegedly made a "cutthroat" gesture to her in court.

Kelly Brown claimed 17-year-old Marquis Richards had also said her son Rhamero West, 16, was "smoked" as he was convicted.

Rhamero had been chased down and stabbed to death in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester.

Ryan Cashin, 19, an Giovanni Lawrence, 20, were jailed for life to serve a minimum of 24 and 21 years, respectively, for the murder, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Richards, meanwhile, was sentenced to the youth equivalent of life and locked up for at least 18 years.

He can now be named for the first time after a successful application to the court.

Ryan Cashin, 19, Giovanni Lawrence, 20, and Marquis Richards, 17 (PA)

A motive for the brutal killing of Rhamero, a nephew of ex-Man City and England international footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips, was not put forward by prosecutors.

"Why did these individuals kill our baby boy, chase him down and take his life?," Ms Brown told Manchester Crown Court.

"We ask this question all the time.

"All I can say is thank you for showing me your true colours," Ms Brown told Richards, referring to the gestures she said he made.

Police on Norton Street in Old Trafford (MEN Media)

Rhamero was driving a stolen BMW and was with friends when he was spotted on the Princess Parkway at rush hour at about 6pm on September 9 last year.

Richards got out of one of the two stolen BMWs while Rhamero's car was stationary in traffic, and started attacking the car with a 'large knife'.

Rhamero desperately tried to get away, driving too fast and crashing into another car and ploughing into a tree.

Rhamero was chased down and killed on a residential street (MEN Media)

Richards chased Rhamero while armed with a knife, and Cashin joined the foot chase.

Cashin took the weapon from Richards before stabbing Rhamero to the legs in a front garden on Norton Street.

Lawrence, a driver of one of two stolen BMWs which had pursued Rhamero, was also convicted of murder under the joint enterprise law.

Addressing her son's killers, Ms Brown added: "From start to finish during this trial you have shown no remorse.

"You have been giggling and smirking in the dock like this is all a joke, a big game to you.

Rhamero's mum said her life was 'destroyed' after her son was killed (MEN Media)

"This is real life, you took my son away.

"None of you have any respect for my family or even this court room."

She said: "To the court my boy is just a statistic, another case, but to me in real life, my beautiful, fun, loving, caring, responsible boy who loved his family.

"On September 9 our lives were destroyed."

Cashin, of Nancy Street, Manchester; Richards, of Anne Nuttall Road, Hulme; and Lawrence, of Colgrove Avenue, Manchester, were all found guilty of murder after a trial.

Following the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Liz Hopkinson, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said Rhamero was "violently, needlessly, murdered in broad daylight".

She added that the perpetrators have only added his family's suffering by forcing them to "endure the pain of trial" rather than admit it.

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