A boy has been jailed for at least 16 years for murdering 12-year-old Roberts Buncis in woodland in Lincolnshire last year.

The trial heard that Marcel Grzeszcz, 15, stabbed Roberts more than 70 times all over his body and that there was a neck wound “consistent with a decapitation attempt”.

He was stabbed with such force that the tip of the knife was found embedded in his skull.

The killing happened in Fishtoft, near Boston, on 12 December, just two days before Roberts’ birthday.

Grzeszcz – who was 14 at the time of the attack – had denied murder but admitted manslaughter.

He claimed Roberts had taken a knife to the scene and that it was his friend’s weapon that caused the fatal injuries.

The teenager said he had acted in self defence and “lost control” after Roberts tried to stab him during a row over a drug deal.

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However, the jury didn’t believe him and decided the murder was “motivated by anger”.

Text messages showed Grzeszcz had told Roberts to meet him in woodland in the early hours with the promise of £50 to help him move something.

“When the two of you met up in the wooded area, I’m satisfied while the deceased was unarmed and unaware of what was to take place, you came armed with a large knife and with latex gloves intending at that time, at the very least, to cause him serious bodily harm,” said judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker.

He said the attack was planned and premeditated and that Grzeszcz had made “a determined effort to remove his head” during the “savage and brutal” onslaught.

Lincoln Crown Court previously heard that Grzeszcz had attacked Roberts because he believed he was “a snitch”.

Jurors were also told about texts he had sent to a friend after the killing in which he said “things went wrong” and “this wasn’t supposed to go down like this”.

Grzeszcz told the trial he had known Roberts for three or four months after they met in a town centre when a fight took place, but that neither were involved.