A 15-YEAR-OLD from Liverpool, who killed his friend by stabbing him 12 times after a drink and drugs binge, was jailed for seven years yesterday.

Charliejo Calvert repeatedly stabbed Luke Howard, 16, during a fight which followed a night of bickering.

During a trial earlier this year Liverpool Crown Court was told Calvert stabbed Luke in August last year after they spent the night at a friend’s house where they smoked cannabis, took cocaine and drank beer and spirits.

Calvert, from Ronald Street, Old Swan, admitted killing Luke, from Dovecot, but denied murder on the grounds of self-defence and provocation. Last month a jury cleared Calvert of murder but convicted him of manslaughter.

Sentencing Calvert yesterday at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge John Roberts said, after considering Calvert’s age, that the stabbing was not premeditated, but the aggravating factor of the number of stab wounds meant only “long-term detention” would be appropriate.

He told Calvert: “You and Luke Howard had been at each other, niggling each other.

“You never had the intention to kill your friend.

“No sentence can ever bring back the life of young Luke Howard.”

The judge added that it was a case of “grossly excessive self-defence” after Luke had repeatedly prodded Calvert with a screwdriver during the night and had then tried to stab him in the face with the tool.

Calvert, who wore a black T-shirt and jeans, stared straight ahead as the sentence was announced.

Judge Roberts said Calvert had spent 172 days in custody and this would count towards the sentence.

Judge Roberts also paid tribute to family members in the public gallery for their behaviour during the trial and sentencing.

A post-mortem examination showed Luke sustained two stab wounds to the head and 10 around his body – two penetrating 14cm through main veins, muscles and organs.

Luke was taken to Liverpool’s Royal Hospital where he was pronounced dead several hours later.

Calvert fled the scene and later confessed to his mother, who bagged his bloodied clothes and took him to the police station.

During mitigation David Steer QC, defending Calvert, said it was a case involving a “high degree” of provocation over a short period and “gross and extreme conduct on behalf of the deceased”.

But Judge Roberts told Calvert, who has a previous conviction for assault: “I find that you were motivated by a desire to defend yourself from what he was doing with the screwdriver.

“In my judgment, this case involved not a high degree of provocation but a substantial degree of provocation.”

Calvert’s mother, who was in court yesterday, declined to comment as she left the court building.

Luke Howard’s grandfather, who was also in court, made no comment after the sentencing.

In a statement issued after the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Tim Keelan, of Merseyside Police, said: “Luke’s death is a tragedy for his family and friends, who have all been left devastated by what has happened.

“Our thoughts are with them today and I hope that the sentence can help them to start to rebuild their lives after this terrible time.”