A LIVERPOOL teenager who stabbed a friend 12 times in a drink-and-drug-fuelled rage was yesterday jailed for his manslaughter.
For the first time, after the lifting of a court order banning the release of his identity, 15-year-old Charlijo Calvert can be named as the killer of St Francis Xavier college pupil Luke Howard, 16.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday found Calvert not guilty of murdering Luke but unanimously convicted him of the manslaughter.
Calvert, of Ronald Street, Old Swan, wiped tears from his eyes as the jury returned their verdicts.
A shout of “yes” came from his supporters sat on one side of the court, while members of the Howard family fled the room in tears.
The defendant sat at the back of court dressed in a grey sweatshirt under a dark suit jacket flanked by two security guards.
When the forewoman of the jury announced the verdict, he looked across to his mother, red-faced, and nodded.
Calvert stabbed Luke, from Dovecot, in the early hours of August 30 at the house of a friend in Ashcombe Road, Knotty Ash. He admitted the killing but denied murder on the grounds of provocation and self-defence.
During the week-long trial, the court heard a group of teenage boys, including the victim and defendant, had gone to the house and drank alcohol, smoked cannabis and snorted cocaine.
Throughout the night, and into the early hours, witnesses said they saw Luke prodding Calvert with a screwdriver and the pair “winding each other up”.
At around 7am, the pair were wrestling on the floor of the bedroom when Calvert grabbed a knife and stabbed the victim.
Luke was taken to hospital but died despite doctors’ best efforts. He had knife wounds to his head, body and stomach.
Calvert fled but was taken to a police station by his mother later that day when she found out what he had done.
Luke's mother, Nicola Howard, said: “In the months before Luke's death, he had begun to turn his life around. He had passed bricklaying courses and was beginning an apprenticeship.
“Luke was growing into a mature man keen to provide for his family.
“His friends and family will miss him greatly.
“I would like to thank all my friends and family for their support during this sad time.”
Calvert will be sentenced next month.
