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Top footballer's brother guilty of racist axe murder

The 17-year-old brother of an English Premiership footballer was found guilty on Wednesday of the racist axe murder of a black teenager after their cousin was also convicted of the killing which shocked Britain.

Michael Barton, brother of Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton, was found guilty by a jury in the northern English city of Liverpool of murdering Anthony Walker, 18, two weeks after cousin Paul Taylor, 20, pleaded guilty to the crime.

Walker, a secondary school student, was left with an ice axe embedded in his brain after he walked away from louts yelling racist abuse in the Huyton suburb of Liverpool, northwest England, last July.

The murder stirred chilling memories of the 1993 slaying of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, stabbed to death in London in a case which triggered soul-searching about underlying racism in modern Britain.

Walker, a devout Christian and talented athlete, was attacked as he walked his girlfriend to a bus stop with his cousin.

During a court session on Nov. 15, Taylor pleaded guilty to having inflicted the fatal blow while Barton was convicted on the grounds that he supplied the axe and sparked the confrontation.

The pair were awaiting sentence yesterday, which could be harsh given that the judge determined that both Barton and Taylor's actions were racially motivated.

The crime of racially-aggravated murder usually carries a minimum sentence of 30 years, though the defense lawyers were likely to appeal for a shorter term based on mitigating circumstances.

"I have got to forgive them. My family and I still stand by what I believe -- forgiveness," said the victim's mother, Gee Walker, 49, outside Preston Crown Court, which was sitting in Liverpool.

"It will be difficult but we have got no choice but to live on for Anthony," she said. "It's been really hard-going. I think justice has been done. I am pleased with the outcome."

Walker's group were at a bus stop when Barton shouted racist abuse. Walker said they were simply waiting for a bus to which Barton replied: "Walk, nigger, walk."

The trio took a short cut across a park to another bus stop, but Taylor and Barton were waiting for them.

Barton attacked Walker and when it became clear that basketball player Walker was winning the struggle, Barton shouted "Get him off me!" and Taylor smashed his skull from behind with the axe.

Another cousin of Walker, David Okoro said: "Anthony posed no threat to these people. They chose to kill him purely because of the color of his skin."

The murder sent shockwaves through the local community, and the scene of the attack attracted a mass of tributes, including cards, flowers, basketballs and football shirts.

About 3,000 mourners attended Walker's funeral in August.

Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Currie, who led the investigation, called the attack "beyond belief" and said Walker was "doing absolutely nothing wrong, subjected to a torrent of racist abuse."
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