Man guilty of knifing friend to death after a row on WhatsApp about who was 'gay'

A student has been found guilty of knifing his friend to death over a row on WhatsApp about who was more "gay".

The Old Bailey heard that Paul Akinnuoye and Jordan Wright had traded "gay" insults on a group chat on 19 April last year before they arranged to meet for fight in south-east London.

Akinnuoye, 20, was convicted of murder after a jury was told that the defendant attacked Wright with a knife on Hervey Road in Blackheath on 19 April 2017.

The 19-year-old victim, who had autism, was due to start an apprenticeship in the construction industry when he was killed, after he was stabbed in the chest, neck and arms.

During the WhatsApp exchange Akinnuoye called Wright a "batty boy", to which he responded: "On your mum's life I'm straighter than you," the court was told according to BBC News.

Akinnuoye travelled to meet Wright from his home in Tunbridge Wells possessing a small knife, while Wright was unarmed.

CCTV footage shown to the court captured the two meeting up and showed Akkinuoye being physically held back from Wright after arguing.

The group entered the park and the pair began fighting and Wright was fatally stabbed in the chest before he collapsed saying that he felt unwell.

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC told the court that the attack only lasted a "couple of minutes" and police and an ambulance were called at 8.10pm.

Wright died just over an hour later with a post-mortem giving the cause of death as an incised wound to the chest. The murder weapon was recovered from shrubbery within the park.

Wright's mother Katharine Alade said that she had contemplated suicide after the death of her son.

She said: "There is not one day when I don't shed tears. I didn't think it was possible to feel such physical, psychological or mental pain.

"It is now nearly a year later and I still feel as depressed as I did the day I [was] told that my son did not make it."

She added: "I could have dealt with him dying at such a young age through illness, but not by the hands of a boy the same age as him and over what?".

Akkinuoye was convicted of murder and will be sentenced at a later date following reports.