Teen thugs who stabbed ‘cheeky’ and ‘funny’ schoolboy, 15, to death after row revealed for first time
THE identities of two teen thugs who stabbed a “cheeky” and “funny” schoolboy to death following a row have been revealed for the first time.
A Manchester Crown Court judge lifted reporting restrictions that prevent the boys’ names from being made public due to their age.
James White, 15, and Mark Nuttall, 16, of Farnworth, Bolton, were found guilty of stabbing young Reece Tansey to death.
White received a 15-year sentence while his co-accomplice was jailed for six years.
The convicted killers met with Reece after arranging a fight over Snapchat in the early hours of May 4, 2021.
The boys met on Walker Avenue, Bolton, where altercation broke out in which Nuttall stabbed Recce with a kitchen knife six times.
Following the attack, the defendants ran off, leaving Recce severely injured.
He was found by locals and emergency services were called out but the teen tragically died at the scene.
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In her victim’s statement, Reece’s mother Laura Tansey said the 15-year-old “made us smile, he made us laugh, he made us tear our hair out at times, a typical teenage lad, but he was ours”.
She said: “Reece was simply our world, and his death has devastated us beyond belief.
“When Reece was born, never did we imagine that in 15 short wonderful years later, his life would be taken in an act of violence that is beyond comprehension.
“Instead of planning his 16th birthday, we found ourselves preparing for Reece’s funeral and having to explain to his little brother, why Reece would never be coming home.
“Reece had his whole life ahead of him. On that day, not only was Reece’s life taken, but so was ours, the news that Reece had been killed simply drained the life from us and we will never be the same again.
“We will never come to terms with the senselessness of it all. The pain is almost physical.”
Cops said Reece had staggered to a house after being attacked near a primary school and desperately knocked on the door for help.
Arshad Mahmood, 48, told how his friend Faifal Shah had gone to the young boy’s aid after returning home from a nearby mosque and phoned an ambulance.
He said: “He pulled up in his car and the boy was shouting, ‘Help, help!’
“Faifal could seen he was in a state and he was bleeding quite badly.
“The boy had knocked at a few doors to try to get help after seeing the lights were on inside.
“You can see blood marks on the doorsteps of the houses.”
Mr Mahmood added: “It’s a terrible thing to happen, I have a teenage boy of my own.”
Another resident, who didn’t wish to be named, said she’d heard the victim had been attacked by two other males.
“My wife’s cousin lives on the road and heard that’s what happened,” he said.
“But I don’t know what it was about.”
Reece’s uncle James said the boy had slipped out of his house via his bedroom window after receiving a text message.
James believes Reece was lured to an ambush after wrongly being implicated in a car theft a few weeks earlier.
“He was a good boy,” he said.
“He was innocent and he just caught up with the wrong lads.
“Somebody messaged him and said come and meet me. He thought he was going to meet one person but it was set up.”