Launderette Murder: Five Teens Jailed In Liverpool

Five teenagers from the 'Laneheads' gang in Anfield have been jailed over the murder of 19-year-old Sean 'Shorty' McHugh.

Mr McHugh was killed inside a launderette where he tried to hide from the gang on 30th September 2013.

Reese O'Shaughnessy, 19, who was armed with a sword stick and kicked down the launderette door in the attack, was jailed for a minimum of 18 years after being convicted alongside four others: Andrew Hewitt, 15, Keyfer Dykstra, Corey Hewitt and Joseph McGill, all 14 years old.

Hewitt and McGill were sentenced to a minimum of nine years, Corey Hewitt for a minimum of six years and Dykstra was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years, while a sixth person was acquitted.

The teenagers were part of the Lane Heads gang, which is a rival to the Walton Village Heads. It is reported that McHigh and Dykstra sought revenge after being stabbed in the chest by a member of the opposite gang months earlier.

However, in retaliation the group attacked the victim simply due his affiliation to the Walton Village Heads, rather than targeting the person responsible for the initial attack.

The gang targeted Mr McHugh, of Beckett Street, Liverpool, after a minor dispute. They caught up with him at the launderette, and armed with knives and a sword stick, forced open the door to the room where McHugh was hiding and beat and stabbed him, before he ran out.

The victim was found later in an alleyway having been stabbed in the groin and died a few days later in hospital from blood loss.

(CVS/IT)