A FIFTEEN-year-old boy who stamped and kicked defenceless Sophie Lancaster for no other reason than she dressed differently has been convicted of her murder.

At Preston Crown Court, a jury of nine men and three women took around two hours to convict Brendan Desmond Harris, of Spring Terrace, Stacksteads, of murdering the 20-year-old gap-year student.

Harris and 16-year-old Ryan Stephen Herbert, of Rosendale Crescent, Bacup, who had earlier admitted murdering Sophie, are now awaiting sentencing for a crime which shocked the nation.

Outside the court Sophie’s mum Sylvia Lancaster said: ‘Sophie was a thoughtful, sensitive individual who would not have wanted her death to be in vain. I hope today as a society we can use what has happened to reflect on where we are going and the changes that need to be made to prevent others suffering in this way.’

Harris, wearing a charcoal suit and black shirt, sat impassively as the verdict was announced. Herbert and Harris both admitted causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) to Sophie’s 21-year-old boyfriend Robert Maltby, leaving him unconscious and in a coma for days.

After the male foreman of the jury delivered the unanimous guilty verdict, a shout of, ‘Yes’ could be heard from the public gallery. Sophie’s mum and friends burst into tears and two of the female jurors were also crying.

Three other teenagers, two aged 17 and one 16 from the Bacup area, have also admitted GBH on Robert, but Judge Anthony Russell QC has declined to lift a legal ban on naming them. All five youths will be sentenced on 28 April.

Judge Russell praised the jury, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and described the case as ‘most harrowing’.

After the verdict prosecutor Michael Shorrock QC outlined to the court that Harris had a similar conviction for affray and actual bodily harm committed four months before the incident that resulted in Sophie’s death. As Harris was taken down he looked towards his mother and friend in the gallery, who later left the court in tears, and shook his head.

Judge Russell praised the four young witnesses who had given assistance, rendered first aid and made the phone calls to the emergency services; he said he would recommend that each received a £250 reward.

Judge Russell also asked to be notified of names of individual police officers, civilians and members of the CPS involved, so they too could be acknowledged. And he invited any jurors who wished to see the sentencing to attend Preston on 28 April.

The attack, in the early hours of 11 August last year in the skatepark at Stubbylee Park, Bacup, left the couple in comas. Sophie died nearly two weeks later having failed to regain consciousness.

Witnesses told how Robert and Sophie, described in court as ‘moshers’, had met the group earlier near the Fudge Factory, in Park Road, and then walked through the park's main entrance on New Line.

The jury saw photographs of Sophie’s 17 injuries, including a split in her head which needed stapling, and three marks on her face which showed an imprint of the footwear used to stamp and kick her (click here to see some of the images).

Former Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School student Robert suffered 22 injuries to his head, face and body. He is still suffering difficulties as a result of the attack.

Consultant neuropathologist at Hope Hospital, Salford, Dr Daniel Du Plessis likened the brain injuries suffered by Sophie to those of a car crash victim.

Terrifying 999 calls were played to the court from youngsters in the park on the night who witnessed the attack.