THE TEENAGER on trial over the fatal stabbing of a Coventry father has pleaded guilty to his manslaughter.
Robert Burgess was found dead in a garden in Bell Green in October last year.
A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty yesterday (March 23) to the manslaughter of Robert in a dispute over drugs.
Police say an argument started on the front drive of a property on Armfield Street, before their dispute continued into the garden where he was fatally stabbed.
Only two minutes after meeting Robert, the 17-year-old callously fled the scene, leaving his victim for dead.
That evening a family member found Robert’s body when she attended the property after no one heard from the 37-year-old for several hours.
Robert’s then three-year-old daughter was found in the house alone, with her father collapsed in the garden.
A murder investigation was immediately launched and the 17-year-old defendant was quickly identified after Robert’s family posted footage on social media. He was arrested three days later on suspicion of murder and subsequently charged.
At Warwick Crown Court, the teenager pleaded guilty to manslaughter – he will be sentenced on Friday May 1.
DCI Scott Griffiths from the West Midlands Police homicide team, said; “Although we will never really know what happened in those few moments between the defendant and Mr Burgess, we believe this was all over a small quantity of drugs.”
“This is another shocking case portraying the reality of knife crime. A young child has lost her father at the hands of a teenager who felt the need to carry a knife and will now face the start of his adult life in prison.
“Once again this shows there really are no winners of knife crime.”
