Jack Frew was murdered

A teenager convicted of murdering a "happy, loving and vibrant" schoolboy was handed a life sentence today and told he must serve a minimum of 18 years.

Jack Frew, 16, bled to death when he was stabbed 20 times with a kitchen knife. His throat was slit during the attack in secluded woodland near his school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in May 2010.

At the High Court in Edinburgh today, Craig Roy, 19, was given a life sentence for the attack and told he will spend at least 18 years behind bars.

Roy was convicted of murdering the 16-year-old at the High Court in Glasgow in January.

He claimed the younger boy had pestered him and tried to blackmail him for sex.

During the 12-day trial, the jury heard that Roy had cheated on his long-term boyfriend Christopher Hannah with Jack and was plagued by guilt over his infidelity.

He admitted stabbing the openly gay teenager but claimed to have no memory of it.

On the night of the murder, he said Jack sent a text message telling him to meet him in woods near their school. He claimed to have taken the knife to the meeting to "scare" the younger boy into leaving him alone.

Jack's windpipe was cut open, his lungs were punctured and there was knife damage to his ribs.

Instead of calling an ambulance for the dying teenager, Roy phoned his boyfriend for help for himself.

It took a jury less than two hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict.

After the conviction, Jack's parents Lorraine and Robert Frew said their son was "a happy, loving vibrant boy who loved life and brought fun and laughter to every situation".

They added: "Jack loved people, had the world at his fingertips with a promising future ahead and he would have made the most of every minute."