POLICE have paid tribute to the community of Sedgley for their help in bringing a pair of teenage killers to justice.

Evil Shylon Wishart and James Cartwright were told by a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week to expect life in prison for the murder of Shane Watson.

After the attack last July which left Mr Watson with fatal injuries Wishart, aged 19, and Cartwright, 18, took mobile phone pictures of their victim including one of him being urinated on.

They then went to a party and boasted about what they had done before showing other party goers the graphic images.

Detective Inspector Nigel Harrison, who initially led the investigation, said: "The community was shocked and dumbfounded by the circumstances around Shane's death. They came together and worked closely with us to bring those responsible to justice - the people of Sedgley solved this crime not the police.

"Local people were brilliant and showed a lot of courage to come forward with information just hours after the attack enabling us to act straight away to arrest the two in the afternoon while they were still in their beds.

"We were also able to seize a lot of incriminating evidence including blood stained clothing."

Mr Watson's stolen mobile phone was recovered in the garden at Wishart's home in North Springfield. Cartwright was detained at his home in Sandyfields Road.

Police also recovered two pairs of shoes and jeans belonging to the defendants. Both right shoes were heavily blood stained and DNA was found inside respective shoes belonging to the killers.

Det Insp Harrison added: "There was a groundswell of community support towards the police and it certainly paid off. It was really refreshing that under such tragic circumstances I was given the opportunity to work with a tight knit community who were happy to support police."

Wishart and Cartwright are in custody awaiting sentencing.