Shakilus Townsend was killed by a jealous rival despite the fact he had not had a sexual relationship or even kissed the girl who lured him to his death.

Samantha Joseph, Danny McLean’s girlfriend was just 15-years-old when they conspired to lure Shakilus into a honey trap where he was attacked and killed by members of the Shine My Nine (SMN) gang.

The young teen met Danny McLean in April 2007 and started going out with him, breaking off the relationship briefly when she went to stay with her father in Trinidad for a few months.

Joseph resumed her relationship with Danny when she returned, spending evenings at his home watching DVDs and chatting and occasionally getting into trouble with her mother when she was home late.

Joseph said she met Shakilus at the end of May, beginning of June last year and saw him about eight times until Danny found out.

She admitted having a sexual relationship with Danny but said she never slept with Shakilus or kissed him.

Nicola Dyer, Shakilus’s mum, said he was smitten with Joseph, even telling his mother he wanted to marry her.

Joseph said: “I met him in the way home from Danny’s house on the bus. I was sitting there and he came up to me and started talking to me.

“He just rang me one day when I gave him my number and we started talking from there.”

She said they got on really well and she thought he was an “all right person” because of the way he treated her.

Joseph's friends told the court she had confided she was just using him for his money.

He offered to buy her a puppy for her birthday.

She told the court that she was thinking of ending her relationship with McLean.

She said Danny was “very angry” when he found out about her and “Shak”.

At one point she thought he was going to beat her up when he made a plan with Shakilus to lure her somewhere to meet both of them.

At the time she believed she loved him and was trying to “sweeten him up” so he would not be so angry with her.

When asked about how the plan came about to set Shakilus up, she said: “I think it was something along the lines of, ‘If you still love me, you will set up Shak.’ “I just went along with it.”

Under cross examination she told McLean's defence lawyer Louise McCullough, she no longer loved him.

However she admitted since they had both been arrested she had sent him letters, a birthday card and a Valentine's Day card.

Detective Inspector Barney Ratcliffe, of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command investigation, said: "This is an absolutely tragic case, where a young boy has been viciously attacked simply for liking the wrong girl.

"Even though she knew her relationship with Shakilus was putting him in danger, Samantha Joseph carried on and when the point of no return arrived she knowingly and callously led him to his death.

"The level of deception, cunning and co-ordination used to lure Shakilus to his death, illustrates the determination of all those involved.

"After the attack Joseph and McLean calmly walked away, even stopping in a nearby shop to seek medical help for a head injury he had suffered during the incident."

Tyrell Ellis, 19, Don Carlos Ellis, 18, Andre Thompson, 17, Michael Akinfenwa, 17, and Andre Johnson Haynes, 18 were also found guilty of murder.