A 15-year-old boy who stabbed another teenager in the heart on the way home from school has been found guilty of murder. Alfie Lewis, 15, was stabbed to death “in full view” of pupils leaving a primary school in the Horsforth area of Leeds last November. A schoolboy, who was 14 at the time, admitted stabbing Alfie with a 13cm-long kitchen knife he had brought from home, but he denied murder, claiming he was scared for his life when he pulled out the weapon. On Friday, a jury of five men and seven women at Leeds crown court convicted him of the offence. Cries were heard from Alfie’s family who hugged each other as the verdict was announced. Most were wearing T-shirts with pictures of Alfie and the words: “Forever 15”. The defendant, who cannot be named, showed no visible emotion when the verdict was read out. He held hands with his parents through a gap in the dock glass before being taken away. The judge, Mr Justice Cotter, told the defendant: “You have been found guilty of murder. There is only one sentence I can pass. What I have to determine is how many years you will be detained before you are able to be released.” The teenager will be sentenced on 21 June. Opening the case last week, the prosecutor Craig Hassall KC said Alfie had been walking to meet friends at the end of the school day when the defendant attacked him close to St Margaret’s primary school in Horsforth just before 3pm on 7 November. The prosecutor said Alfie was stabbed twice – once in the chest and once in the leg – in “full view of scores of pupils” leaving school. A postmortem examination revealed the fatal injury was a 14cm deep wound which punctured Alfie’s heart. Hassall said all the witnesses were “consistent” in saying Alfie was “not the aggressor” that day. Speaking outside court after the verdict, Alfie’s brother, Antony, thanked the jury. Reading a statement on behalf of the family, he said: “The only justice we would want is for Alfie to come home.” He added: “Most of all, we would like to say thank you to our Alfie for giving us all your love, joy, and humour and making us smile every day in the 15 years we had to enjoy and love you.” The senior investigating officer, DCI Stacey Atkinson, said of the case: “It is a tragedy that illustrates the appalling consequences of knife crime.”