THE devastated family of a teenager brutally murdered in a frenzied knife attack have spoken of the double heartbreak they have suffered.
The ferocity of the violence resulted in a piece of the knife being left lodged in the skull of Taylor Black.
Lindsey Allison described her son as ‘beautiful and kind-hearted’ after his murderer was jailed for life at Teesside Crown Court.
But as the family were awaiting justice for the beloved teenager tragedy struck again when Miss Allison’s brother took his own life at the weekend.
Speaking outside the court she said her relief that Costello was found guilty of murder was tempered by the devastation of losing her brother.
She said: “I’m really pleased with the verdict – it couldn’t have gone any better. It has been 15 months of hell but we can maybe finally move on as a family and try our best to take small steps to get us back to where we were.
“I lost my brother at the weekend as he tragically committed suicide because it was just too hard for him. So we have got justice for both.
“Niki just found the pressure too much while he was waiting for the verdict to come through.”
Yesterday, they received the news they were hoping for as the jury returned a majority guilty verdict by ten to two following almost 12 hours of deliberation.
The horrendous injuries the teenager suffered were outlined to the jury during the two-week trial and Judge Penny Moreland pointed out that the ‘viciousness’ of the fatal attack was central to the length of sentence Costello received.
She said: “That attack included a stab wound to the chest, which passed through Taylor’s heart and liver into his stomach. That was a fatal wound, but not immediately a wound which incapacitated Taylor: he stood up, and moved to the front door of the flat.
“There you attacked him again. At some point during this attack, you stabbed him in the head with such force that the tip of the knife broke off in his skull: after that, you stabbed him in the head with very severe force, penetrating his skull with the knife after the tip had been broken off, through his brain.”
Jurors had heard how Costello claimed to have little memory of the attack and maintained his defence was ‘diminished responsibility’.
The judge told Costello that the jury did not believe that the balance of his mind was affected at the time of the murder.
The jury had heard how the defendant had been known to the family of the teenager for a number of years and had regularly eaten Sunday dinner with the family.
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