THREE teenagers were today convicted of murder or manslaughter after they attacked a Hayes man who confronted them over their anti-social behaviour.

Paul Thrower, 46, suffered multiple wounds after the group set upon him as he pursued them for verbally abusing his girlfriend.

Kiro Halliburton, 18, of Tollgate Drive, Hayes, was found guilty of murder and Zakariya Subeir, 18 of Rockingham Road, Uxbridge and Mahdi Osman, 18, of Hoskins Close, Hayes, were found guilty of manslaughter.

A 17-year-old from the Hayes area was found not guilty of manslaughter.

They will be sentenced on December 19.

Det Insp Simon Deefholts said: "Mr Thrower was undoubtedly angry that day and rushed to confront the youths who had verbally abused his partner.

"Two took refuge behind a door, but it took some time for Mr Thrower to reach them and they could easily have made their escape across the open roof area behind them.

"Instead, they were handed at least one potentially lethal weapon by their friend on the ground and barricaded a door, waiting until Mr Thrower burst through.

“CCTV shows them apparently calm and preparing for the attack.

"They immediately attacked him, causing devastating injuries. Any claim that they were acting in self-defence was born out by the weight of evidence against them.

"I am pleased the jury have today convicted not only the two directly involved in the shocking attack on Mr Thrower but also the youth who helped arm them."

The court heard that around 9.30pm on Thursday, February 20 this year, Mr Thrower's girlfriend was returning from the nearby shops to their ground floor flat in St Dunstan’s Close, Hayes, when she was verbally abused by a group of youths.

She told them to leave but was spat at and had drink thrown at her.

She returned home and told her partner. Furious, Mr Thrower ran out of the flat after them.

Halliburton and Subeir saw him approaching and fled to the first-floor landing into a partially-enclosed area behind a door near a rubbish chute.

They held the door closed, although there was an open roof area behind them.

After several minutes, Mr Thrower succeeded in kicking through a glass panel in the door and crawled towards them.

He was then struck three times with an axe and stabbed ten times with at least one knife.

One of the wounds penetrated both his lung and heart.

Halliburton and Subeir fled. Mr Thrower staggered to the top of the stairs where he collapsed. An air ambulance attended but Mr Thrower died in hospital that night.

CCTV later seized from the area showed, while Halliburton and Subeir were waiting for Mr Thrower to reach them, Osman was on the floor below communicating with them.

The footage showed Osman going to a nearby lock-up shed and returning with a long-handled axe.

He tried, and failed, to get into the block of flats through the main entrance before passing the axe up to Subeir. He then managed to get inside the building, having been let in by someone else.

After the attack, footage showed Halliburton, Subeir and Osman running from the building. Halliburton still had a knife in his hand.

Mr Thrower's partner gave chase but was unable to catch them.

CCTV also revealed the defendants had gathered earlier that evening along with another youth.

At around 8.40hrs, three of the group went into the nearby Great Western pub.

When the landlord asked them to leave, given their age and appearance, the youths started swearing and threatened to stab him.

The confrontation continued in the pub car park before the group eventually left, heading towards the flats in St Dunstans Close.

After the murder, Halliburton fled London and was traced to Leeds, where he was arrested that month. He had changed his appearance, shaving off his distinctive long, plaited hair.

Subeir flew to Dubai. He returned in March and was arrested.