‘Jealous’ teenager jailed for murder of boy, 15, in unprovoked attack

These were the damning words of a heartbroken family who saw the boy who murdered their son without even knowing him jailed for life.

Kyle Pickles killed 15-year-old Loui Phillips in a sudden and brutal attack on August 8 this year.

Senselessly, the 17-year-old murderer had never even once met his victim before the killing, yet he walked up to Loui, fatally stabbed the teenager in the chest and left without saying a word.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday (December 20) at Doncaster Crown Court, Loui’s family had to listen to how Pickles killed their loved one for the crime of hanging out with a teenage girl known to Pickles, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

“You knew that [that girl] would be there on that street and you had determined that you would use your knife against any boy she was in company with,” said His Honour Judge Roger Thomas.

“You didn’t even know who he was. The two of you had never met before. You are responsible for ending the life of a young boy who had his whole adult life ahead of him.”

The judge further said Pickles showed “no empathy or remorse” for his actions, and a psychiatrist heard he had pleaded guilty only to “get less time”.

But the court heard how Loui’s murder was in fact the culmination of months violent attacks by Pickles, who for weeks had been attacking any boy the young girl even associated with, as well as breaking into her family home to attack her father with a stanley knife.

And on the day Loui was killed, his killer tracked her exact location using the SnapMap feature on Snapchat, with a plan to stab any boy she happened to be with. He had never met Loui before in his life.

Over the course of two months, the teenager assaulted as many as six boys he felt had had anything to do with the teenage girl.

He stalked her interactions on social media and had her friends tell him about other lads. He then tracked them down or goaded them on Facebook into meeting him for a fight.

One boy, 16, was beaten to the floor by Pickles before he "took a run and kicked his head like a football".

Another was a friend of Pickles, who he decided was going behind his back to see the girl and he told him: “I'll make sure you stay in hospital.”

“His use of violence against others was not spontaneous, but a pre-meditated campaign against [the girl] for perceived wrongs," said prosecutor Mr Jonathan Sandiford QC.

“It was the product of his controlling and abusive nature.”

On one chilling occasion, in an incident two weeks before Loui’s death, the young girl’s father was home alone when he saw Pickles climbing the stairs with a modified stanley knife.

Pickles lunged at the man, who barricaded himself in his bedroom while the 17-year-old tried to break down the door for over a minute, and was only scared off when he was told the police were coming.

Pickles was arrested for this and released on conditional bail. Two weeks later, he murdered Loui.

The 15-year-old victim had never met Pickles, of Kirkstall Road, Barnsley, but was hanging out with the girl on August 8 on Fish Bank Lane in Monk Bretton.

CCTV showed how Pickles used his phone to find their location. Without saying a word he walked up to the pair and without any hesitation stabbed Loui in the chest.

He attacked with such force the knife broke at the handle and left the blade in Loui’s chest. He then left.

Despite the immediate efforts of paramedics, the 15-year-old died in hospital of a stab wound to his heart four days later on August 12.

Meanwhile, Pickles denied the murder or ever being there, forcing the traumatised girl to pick him out in a police ID parade.

The 17-year-old later pleaded guilty to the murder, reportedly only motivated by “getting less jail time”.

“You have demonstrated a total lack of empathy or remorse for your actions,” said the judge in sentencing.

“You fail to comprehend the suffering his family have been subjected to. Loui’s killing was the culmination of the extremely nasty and controlling behaviour you had exhibited towards [this girl] in the weeks before.”

Kyle Pickles was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years behind bars,

In court, Loui’s family stood and applauded the judge after the teenage killer had been led down to the cells.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Oughton, who led the investigation into Loui’s murder, said: “This is an incredibly tragic case where an innocent young boy was stabbed to death, simply because his attacker was jealous of a perceived relationship.

“Pickles located Loui and his friend, using the social media platform Snapchat. He planned his attack, located the pair and purposely set out armed with a kitchen knife to go and stab him.

“He has shown no remorse for his actions throughout, and continued to maintain his innocence until his court appearance in October.

“Loui was still conscious after he was stabbed and managed to give a full account of the attack to a police officer on the way to the hospital. All he wanted to know was where his mum was.

“My thoughts today are once again with Loui’s mum and family. They have shown great courage and dignity throughout these proceedings. I know that no length of sentence will bring Loui back to them, but I hope they feel that, in some small way, justice has been done.”