A gang of youths has been convicted of killing a 'kind and innocent' young man with the mental age of nine in a knife-point mugging caught on graphic CCTV film.

Dean Mayley was stabbed in the heart by 17-year-old Jamal Jones for refusing to hand over his mobile phone to a group of robbers who stopped him as he walked home in Greenford, west London, on the afternoon of February 7.

The 24-year-old had learning difficulties due to a brain disorder called Microcephaly and probably did not fully understand what the teenagers wanted, jurors were told.

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Dean Mayley, pictured left as a 17-year-old with his nephew, was stabbed in the heart by 17-year-old Jamal Jones for refusing to hand over his mobile phone to a group of robbers

Graphic CCTV played out in court captured the moment Jamal Jones, centre, stabbed Dean Mayley right

Jamal Jones, left, was found guilty of murder while Michael Mensah, right, who denied murder, was convicted of manslaughter and attempted robbery following a trial

Jones was found guilty of murder, while his three accomplices were found guilty of manslaughter.

Mayley's mother Donna sat through weeks of harrowing evidence at the Old Bailey and was visibly shocked and tearful after watching footage of the moment her son was fatally injured.

The CCTV showed three shadowy hooded figures go up to Mr Mayley and confront him before one of them lashes out with a blade.

The victim then staggered and collapsed in the road as members of the public rushed to help. He died later in hospital.

The prosecution said while only Jones, from Acton, west London, wielded the knife, all four played a part in the attempted robbery and killing.

Miguel Leiba, also 17, from Hanwell, and Ryan Beresford, 19, blocked the victim's path and Michael Mensah, 18, drove them to and from the scene, the prosecution said.

Beresford, of Acton, and Mensah, of Greenford, along with Leiba denied murder, but were convicted of manslaughter. All three were also found guilty of the attempted robbery of Mr Mayley.

Ryan Beresford, left, and Miguel Leiba, right, also denied murder but were convicted of manslaughter and attempted robbery. Leiba and Beresford blocked the victim's path and Mensah drove them to and from the scene, the prosecution said

CCTV images captured some of Dean Mayley's final footsteps after he had exited the E9 bus

Mensah was found guilty of an earlier robbery on January 28.

Mrs Mayley wept as the verdicts were delivered after around four hours and the defendants wailed in the dock.

In his defence, Jones admitted he had tried to rob Mr Mayley but denied he had meant to harm him.

He told jurors: 'He was getting fidgety. His hands were in his pockets. He was looking straight into my eyes. Ryan and Miguel - I noticed them coming back towards me. I asked them "are you going to get involved?" but they just stood there.

'I asked him again "just give me your phone". He shrugged and said "what are you going to do about it?".

'And then I just literally panicked. I did not know what to do and I'm thinking "is this guy going to hit me?" because of his body language.

'I thrust out first. I hit him first - I did not intend to hurt him. I just meant to do a slice and that's it. I just ended up getting paranoid and he was getting aggressive towards me.'

HOW A PRISON LETTER HELPED THE PROSECUTION One of the teenagers in the Dean Mayley case wrote a menacing letter to his co-accused in a bid persuade him not to implicate him in the murder while they were awaiting trial. Michael Mensah ordered Jamal Jones not to say that he had given him the murder weapon or that he told him to carry out the attempted robbery. But the move backfired after officers found the incriminating note during a routine cell search at HMP Feltham on May 23, the court heard. In a letter, Michael Mensah, right, ordered Jamal Jones, left, not to say that he had given him the murder weapon or that he told him to carry out the attempted robbery The letter became a key piece of evidence for the prosecution in the Old Bailey trial of the four youths accused of the attempted robbery and murder of Mr Mayley. The court heard Mensah had written the letter in response to finding out about the Jones's possible defence at a preliminary hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court. In it, Mensah berated his co-defendant over the suggestion he may claim he stabbed Mr Mayley in self defence and urged him not to talk to his solicitor about him. The 18-year-old, who had previous convictions for possessing knives, wrote: 'Why do they think I gave you the nank (knife) and persuaded you? They can't say that without proof.' Insisting it was never his idea to go to Greenford on the day of the killing, he told the 17-year-old: 'I don't know why I came, I should have never come, it's only coz I was bored. 'Never in your life, say out loud I told you to rob anyone, on a Big Man Ting, on my life never say it out loud, it's not a joke.' Mensah told the youth to only talk to his solicitor about the killing and to 'speak on your behalf and no one else's'. The court heard Mensah had written the letter in response to finding out about the Jones's possible defence at a preliminary hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, pictured He then advised him to change his defence and claim he was high on 'Molly' - slang for ecstasy - to avoid a life sentence for murder. He wrote: 'Why are you saying self defence? Even if he did attack you that's self defence for him. 'If you want manslaughter you have to say you was off a drug. 'Say you take Molly because people say you're quiet, say girls say you're quiet and you take Molly to be more fun around and say at college you took two and couldn't control yourself and didn't mean to stab him, you was paranoid because of the drug and when you sobered up you realised what you did you cried, you was sorry, asking people for help but they wouldn't help you, say people told you to turn yourself in but you was scared. 'DON'T say anyone told you to do or say anything.' On his own defence, Mensah cautioned: 'I can't get joint enterprise because there was never a enterprise to join. I wasn't involved in the robbery so I'm not liable. 'You did the robbery but you wasn't in control, your mental state wasn't correct so doing it wasn't your fault so it's manslaughter.' Writing in capital letters, Mensah ended the letter saying: 'Stop acting like a f****** kid and come correct big man ting. 'Someone's died and if you don't f****** get serious and work with man to buss this, you're losing your life to jail. 'And you're gonna cry like a bitch. You're smiling now but you'll cry like a bitch so fix you and come in my class so we can chat and get sh** right before we got to court.' When he was quizzed about the letter in the witness box, Mensah told the jury he was just trying to make him tell the truth. He said that while they were being transported to and from their earlier court date in a prison van, Jones 'was boasting about it and he was laughing'. Advertisement

He said he had been made to look after the knife earlier in the day by another boy who approached him in college.

But prosecutor Simon Denison QC said all four youths had told lies about what happened on the day of the murder.

He said: 'These four were a team of knife-point robbers driving up and down the Ruislip Road looking for a victim or victims. That is why Dean Mayley was targeted, not just by Jamal Jones but by all of them.'

Mensah wrote a menacing letter to Jones in a bid persuade him not to implicate him in the murder while they were awaiting trial.

He ordered the knifeman not to say that he had given him the murder weapon or that he told him to carry out the attempted robbery.

The letter read: 'Why do they think I gave you the nank (knife) and persuaded you? They can't say that without proof.

CCTV images showed Dean Mayley getting off a bus in Ruislip Road East at its junction with Clifton Road, Greenford on February 7 and walking away in the direction of The Broadway around 50 minutes before he was murdered

'As long as you say that boy at college gave it to you and forgot to take it back off you.'

A court heard a search of Jones's bedroom uncovered a kitchen knife stashed under his mattress and a meat cleaver on top of his wardrobe.

The jury was also told about Mensah's previous convictions over the possession of knives.

On September 21 last year, police discovered a five-inch jagged blade in his trainer and a samurai sword in the boot of his Fiat Punto.

Then on January 12 this year, Mensah was stopped in his car again and underneath the driver's seat police found a lock knife.

Just days before the attack on Mr Mayley, Mensah was involved in the mugging of a 15-year-old boy who was forced to hand over his North Face bodywarmer and mobile phone in the same area, the court heard.

In the earlier incident, Mensah was alleged to have driven unidentified robbers to the scene in his car.

Lifting an order banning the naming of Jones and Leiba, judge Martyn Zeidman QC said: 'The more people who realise the horror of knife crime, the better.'

MOTHER OF DEAN MAYLEY CALLS FOR END TO KNIFE CRIME Donna Mayley, pictured, has called for an end to 'unacceptable' knife crimes as her son's killers faced life behind bars The mother of a young man stabbed to death in a street mugging called for an end to 'unacceptable' knife crimes as her son's killers faced life behind bars. Donna Mayley and her daughter Emma were tearful outside court after four youths were found guilty of their part in the death of Dean Mayley, who had a mental disability. Asked for her reaction on the verdicts, Mrs Mayley said: 'I'm happy. I could not have asked for more. It's never going to bring Dean back. 'We have to wait for the sentencing but it's never going to mean anything to me because they are alive. My son isn't. My son is not coming back. They are going to be coming out and getting on with their lives.' She went on: 'Dean was a lovely lovely boy. Everyone that knew him loved him. He had manners and respect. He respected people - it doesn't cost you anything. 'I can't believe it happened - and for nothing. He was my youngest son and it's affected the whole family. It's unbearable. I just can't explain what has happened.' And on the continuing problem of knife crime on the streets, she said: 'When people do these things they never think when they go out with a knife, they know they are going to use it. The intention is there from when they put it in their pocket. 'They need to be aware when they have a knife or a sword or a Taser they are not going to have fun with these things, they are dangerous weapons. 'It keeps happening day after day, week after week. People will be killed. It is always innocent people who have done nothing wrong. It's completely unacceptable. Things have to change.' She added: 'It may be finished for them but we can't move on. Dean was such a big part of our lives. They have wasted their lives at their age. I just hope they get the longest sentence possible.' Advertisement

Adjourning sentencing until October 2, he said: 'Yet another example of a kind and innocent person losing their life because of somebody else using a knife.

'For somebody to lose their life in these circumstances is a disaster.

'There are no sufficient words to demonstrate the sadness. I want to pay tribute to the family who have shown such courage at difficult times throughout this trial.

'I just wish there was some way - obviously there isn't - in which I could turn the clock back.'