THE family of a teenager stabbed to death in a frenzied attack has spoken of their heartache waiting 17 months for justice.
Lindsey Allison described her son, Taylor Black, as 'beautiful and kind-hearted' after his murderer was jailed for life at Teesside Crown Court.
Nathan Costello was jailed for life for the brutal murder of the 18-year-old in his Stockton flat in February last year.
His family and friends gathered outside the court building awaiting the jury's verdict and after giving an emotional statement to the judge Miss Allison welcomed the sentence.
Speaking after the hearing, she said: "Nothing can ever bring my beautiful, gentle, kind-hearted son back, but at least now we have justice for him we can try to move on as a family and we can take small steps each day to try to live our lives in the way which Taylor would want us to.
“Thank you to everyone for all their support through this very difficult time, but we now as a family would like to be left alone to grieve for Taylor.”
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox, from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Murder Investigation Team, said: “We are pleased with today’s verdict and are grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation.
"Nathan Costello took the life of Taylor Black in the most brutal of circumstances and today he has been sentenced to a minimum of 19 years in prison for his unforgiveable actions on that day.
“Taylor did not deserve to die. He was a young man with a promising future and was clearly loved by all who knew him.
“This was a pre-planned attack, Costello had previously threatened to harm Taylor prior to him being murdered and he proceeded to take his life in the most violent way possible. He has shown no remorse for what he has done and has offered no explanation for his actions to any of Taylor’s family."
Judge Penny Moreland described the attack as brutal as she jailed the 31-year-old for murderous attack.
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