Teenager Zain Sailsman was lured into a trap by his drug bosses and stabbed.
It was a brutal punishment for the 19-year-old and revenge after he stole a shotgun used in a turf war attack on a rival drug dealer.
Prosecutors do not believe the intention was to kill him.
The jury at the murder trial was told Zain pulled the trigger firing the gun at a home and was helped by his so-called friend and drugs boss Charlie Beadell and their supplier Ricky Jervis, who had borrowed the gun from his bosses.
But Zain double-crossed Beadell by retrieving the gun which was hidden in Sutton and sold it to pay off a debt and went on the run, it was claimed.
The court was told that the betrayal made Beadell furious. He wanted pay-back and threatened Zain’s mum which brought the teenager out of hiding. Zain retaliated and made his owns threats to Julia Howard, Beadell’s girlfriend, and tension between the friends reaching boiling point.
Zain then returned to Macclesfield and cautiously attempted to ingratiate himself with Jervis and Beadell offering to work for them again to pay off his debts.
Desperate to get the gun back, Jervis and Beadell lured a reluctant Zain to meet with them. In the morning of October 30, he agreed to meet them.
With Julia Howard behind the wheel they picked up Zain and went to Sutton to find the gun, the court was told.
When it became clear the gun was missing, Beadell and Zain argued.
Jervis told the court: “Zain swore on his mother’s life that hadn’t been there or moved the gun. Charlie started raising his voice saying ‘you’re saying it’s me who took it’. They carried on arguing and that’s when it happened. Charlie lunged at Zain. He stepped forward quickly.
“It looked like Charlie leant across and grabbed him. It looked like he hit him. Charlie came away screaming and shouting. Charlie had the knife in his right hand. It was quite big.” Jervis went after Zain as he fled through the woods, blood splattering onto Jervis’s clothes and shoes, it was claimed. Zain managed to crawl over a fence and stagger up the road leaving a trail of blood. Zain tried to call 999, but was unable to speak and collapsed halfway up Bullocks Lane.
Minutes later he was found by motorists but nothing could be done to save him. In the hours and days afterwards Beadell and Jervis attempted to cover their tracks.
The court heard claims that Beadell convinced Powell and Thompson to hide his blood-stained clothes and burn them, and he fled Macclesfield to lie low with the help of Howard. But Beadell made two significant errors, confessing to two people he had stabbed Zain that night. Jervis made a seven minute phone call to William Dale immediately after the stabbing and told him what had just happened.
This conversation was recalled by Dale in covert recordings taken from a device placed on his barge by detectives. Jervis was arrested in Congleton. He told the jury he was assured by Beadell he would admit to stabbing Zain.
