Four teens guilty of murdering Joe Riches in Stourbridge town centre

Dray Simmonds and Joshua Edgington, both aged 19, and two 16-year-olds who cannot be named due to their ages, were found guilty of the murder of Joseph Riches by a jury at Coventry Crown Court today (Tuesday February 14).

Dray Simmonds (left) and Joshua Edgington were found guilty of murder by a jury (Image: West Midlands Police)

Even though Simmonds had inflicted the fatal blow, the other three were complicit in the attack on Joseph and were found guilty by joint enterprise.

Joseph was pushed into a hedge and brutally murdered with a machete in broad daylight in Coventry Street in Stourbridge town centre last July.

The 16-year-old victim had been with a group of friends who were causing trouble with another group of teens in the town centre on Saturday July 15 and he had attacked two of them with a screwdriver.

Joseph Riches was stabbed in the town centre (Image: West Midlands Police)

For reasons police do not know Joseph, from Bartley Green, spotted the group and ran up to them at the bottom of the High Street, attacking two of them with the screwdriver.

He tried to get in the car with his friends as they pulled up alongside him, but couldn't and ran off along Coventry Street as the opposing group gave chase.

One of the group pulled a machete from his clothing and three of them caught up with Joseph and pushed him into a hedge.

They attacked him with the blade causing what would become a fatal blow to his chest as a fourth teen joined them.

Joseph managed to get to his feet and get in the car with his friends, who had driven up Coventry Street to meet him.

The scene of the stabbing in Coventry Street, Stourbridge (Image: Bev Holder/Newsquest)

Sadly his injuries soon proved fatal and he was found in the car, which had been abandoned almost six miles away in Orchard Close, Rowley Regis.

After the machete was found by a member of the public under a fire escape in Stourbridge High Street, police arrested 19-year-old Dray Simmonds in Dudley the following day.

A short time later the same evening the other three - 19-year-old Joshua Edgington and the two 16-year-olds – presented themselves at a police station.

All four were arrested on suspicion of murder.

Simmonds, from Dixon Green Road, Dudley, and Edgington, from Hallewell Road, Birmingham, both now 20, and the two 16-year-olds will be sentenced on Thursday (Feb 15).

Joseph's mother, Sarah, is still trying to come to terms with her son’s death.

She said: “Joseph was an amazing young man who had the world at his fingertips. He was kind, funny, caring, loyal and compassionate.

“His murder has left a huge hole in the lives of his family and friends and he will be forever loved and missed by us all. I will never forgive and never forget.”

Detective Chief Inspector Laura Harrison, from the force’s homicide unit, said: “This is another young life lost to knife crime.

“Only those involved will know the reason for the attack, but no doubt it was not worth the price of a life, or the lengthy sentences that those convicted are facing.”