The court found that the boys moved Morgan from the garage where he was found unconscious the morning after a party, to throw the police off their scent, and to keep them away from the house because of fears an investigation would reveal that one of them had used drugs.

None of the defendants can be identified because of their age.

The teenager whose house the boys had stayed at – referred to here as the First Defendant – has also been convicted of possessing an ecstasy tablet and an LSD trip, and four indecent images of children.

The following quotes are excerpts from the short judgment read out by Bridget Shaw, who chaired the Youth Panel that convicted the five.

On all the boys…

“We conclude that there was an act, and that act was carrying Morgan Huelin, and for some, telling lies. We think that the act of carrying had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice because it was moving Morgan away from the property and linking [the first defendant] to drugs.” 

On the first defendant…

“If Morgan was found at [the first defendant’s] house, then [the first defendant] would be questioned and the police would uncover his drug connections. He must have realised it was a risk that he was partly responsible for Morgan’s condition.

“So from his point of view he knew that if he called an ambulance to his house, difficult questions would be asked which he did not want to answer. There were going to be these questions that he would not want to answer and we find that even if he had mentioned it to his parents, his parents would have called an ambulance.

“Therefore we find that [the first defendant] did have the intention to pervert the course of justice, and we find him guilty of that.”

On the second defendant…

“We believe [the second defendant] knew [the first defendant] had something to hide. We cannot accept that [the second defendant] did this just to stop [the first defendant] getting into trouble with his parents. It is far too serious. Even if it is about the parents, that will lead to police and the questions that he does not want to answer. That is why they carried him. They carried him down the road so that when the ambulance is eventually called there will be no connection between the house and the boys.”

On the third defendant…

“[The third defendant] is in a very similar position. He was called down to the garage, he was aware as others were of Morgan’s condition and he had the same knowledge of what happened the night before, and he knew about the drug connections. He was clearly distressed at the point at which the ambulance came and and yet was still unforthcoming with information and we conclude that he lied to the police. And this was clearly connected with the earlier incident.”

On the fourth defendant…

“In his case there are also admissions, admissions made to his girlfriend and some further admissions to the police. In our view if was [the fourth defendant] who has acted more responsibly and the fact that he has made admissions to the police, and we will take that into account at a later stage. How far up the road [the boys planned to move Morgan] he probably did not know. But he went along with it in the knowledge of what they were doing, which was quite an extraordinary act. Rather than leave [Morgan] where he was and call an ambulance was in our view for a particular reason and that is Morgan and his condition and [the first defendant’s] knowledge and involvement of that drug use, and therefore we find [the fourth defendant] guilty.”

On the fifth defendant…

“He had the presence of mind in the garage to do the right thing initially and put Morgan in the recovery position. He knew that Morgan was unconscious. Why would he not call the ambulance at that stage? Even though we accept that [the first defendant] might have had his phone… what was clear was that the ambulance had not been called. We conclude that he had the same intent as the others. In all cases we are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that all five did an act which had a tendency and which was intended to pervert the course of justice, and all five are convicted.”