Daily Mail
August 28, 2014
A teenage boy who was hacked to death by a gang outside his house at the weekend may have been set upon because he survived a similar attack last year, police said.
Jonjo Highton, 18, died after he was attacked by a mob of eight men with knives who drew up in two cars outside him home in Preston, Lancashire, on Saturday night.
Today, as police questioned eight suspects on suspicion of murdering the teenager, officers said they believed Jonjo was picked on because he survived a previous ‘punishment slashing’ in which he was attacked with a hunting knife until his bones were exposed.
Jonjo was confronted in the street at 11.20pm on Saturday by a gang of men who repeatedly stabbed and slashed him in the head and body.
Police and paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem carried out on Sunday showed he was killed by a knife wound to the neck.
Officers now fear the killing is part of new wave of gang violence involving mobs from the Avenham and Moor Park areas of Preston.
Detective Superintendent Eddie Thistlethwaite of Lancashire Police said: ‘Jonjo was attacked needlessly and savagely. He has lovely parents and brothers who are deeply upset by this incident.
‘I believe this is a case of young people involved in different groups, and I would like to encourage people to move away from that. There is an alternative life for young people – they don’t need to go down this route.’
He added: ‘At the minute I believe it was a group of people that know each other, but we are looking at all other options as well.
‘Jonjo was a young, good-looking, 18-year old boy who did not deserve this.’
Jonjo tried to make a phone call as he rode away but was struck on the jaw, knocked to the ground, and slashed with a hunting knife as a group of schoolchildren sitting on a doorstep nearby looked on.
He suffered deep wounds to his legs, arms, buttocks and back, but after extensive surgery was able to walk again.
The teenager would not give evidence against his attackers, but last November Shaun Tyrer, then 33, and Dylan Cornwell, then 17, both admitted wounding with intent and were jailed for eight and a half years and seven and a half years respectively.
Another man was cleared of having any involvement in the machete attack on the teenager.
Today, Lancashire Police said they had eight suspects in custody aged between 19 and 27, all from Preston. They had seven last night and arrested an eighth, aged 26, this morning.