Joshua Davies arriving at Swansea Crown Court. The trial heard that two days before the murder Davies texted his friend to say: 'Don't say anything but you may just owe me a breakfast.'
A babyfaced schoolboy is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend - over a bet for a free breakfast.
Joshua Davies, 16, was promised a full cooked breakfast if he carried out his threat to murder Rebecca Aylward.
Davies and Rebecca, 15, had split up but she went to meet him hoping they would get back together.
Rebecca even bought new clothes for the 'date' unaware Davies had been boasting to his friends how easy it would be to kill her.
The obsessed schoolboy had plotted to give her deadly foxgloves, drown her in a river or throw her off a cliff.
But instead Davies lured happy and fun-loving Rebecca into woods where he battered her to death with a rock.
A five-week murder trial heard that two days before the murder Davies texted his friend to say: 'Don't say anything but you may just owe me a breakfast.'
Judge Mr Justice Lloyd Jones today lifted an order preventing the boy from being named and photographed.
He said it was 'in the public interest' that he should be identified.
He said: 'This is a crime in a small and closely-knit community and it's right that the public should know there has been a conviction and who has been convicted.
'I accept that the weight given to the welfare of the boy changes now he has been convicted of a very serious offence.'
There was clapping, cheering and then tears from Rebecca's family in the public gallery at Swansea Crown Court as the jury found him guilty on a majority verdict of 10-2 after 20 hours deliberations.
Rebecca's mother Sonia Aylward, 39, gave a quiet smile as the verdict was announced.
Davies, wearing a pale open-necked shirt and dark trousers, showed no emotion as the jury returned their verdict but was in tears when the judge addressed him.
But his family, sitting away from the Aylwards in the lower public gallery, gasped at the verdict.
Until now there was a ban on Davies being publicly named - but the court yesterday lifted an order.
Rebecca even bought new clothes for the 'date' unaware Davies had been boasting to his friends how easy it would be to kill her
Sonia Aylward, Rebecca's mother outside court in Swansea after Davies was found guilty. Standing with her are Rebecca's brother and sister
MACABRE MESSAGES OF THE SCHOOLBOY KILLER
The murder was carried out with shocking brutality. But it was discussed and eventually covered up using the most modern methods.
Instant messages, mobile phone texts and Facebook were all habitually used before and after the killing.
Updates on what they thought was just an adolescent joke were sought by friends as they casually ate breakfast together at a local cafe.
Replies were texted back in seconds using language which made the deadly business of murder appear mundane.
Technology allowed fresh-faced schoolboys the distance from reality to treat the subject of murder with mirth.
A free breakfast could become an incentive to slaughter a schoolgirl as part of the chilling joke.
And Facebook could be used to suggest you were having a normal evening in with friends, even if you had committed murder.
The macabre schoolboy humour may appear brutal to an adult. The tragedy is that one of their number was deadly serious.
As a result, a mountain of digital messages sent between a tight circle of friends was vital evidence in the murder trial.
The teenagers involved were shown to be highly adept at communicating in the words, symbols and jargon of the digital age.
So critical was this evidence that the jury was given a short lesson in court on its meaning.
Smiley-faced symbols were explained, abbreviations such as 'lol' were translated and common terms such as MSN clarified.
They were then ready to listen to days of evidence plucked from a plethora of mobile phones and Facebook pages.
One such exchange related to the chilling bet between killer Joshua Davies and a friend.
The jury was told how a core group of friends regularly used to meet up on a Saturday morning for breakfast.
After one such meeting Davies sent a text to one friend asking: 'What would you do if I actually did kill her?'
The friend replies: 'Oh, I would buy you breakfast.'
On the day of the murder Davies had breakfast as usual with friends and left to meet with Rebecca.
Having told them he intended to kill her they later called him and asked whether he was with her.
'Define with,' Davies replied, clearly meaning that they might well be together but she was no longer alive.
The schoolboy friends genuinely believed that talk of murder was all part of an on-going joke.
But after the killing they all initially kept quiet as fears for Rebecca increased and her frantic family called in the police.
While Rebecca lay apparently dead in a forest, nobody called the police or ambulance service or attempted to get help.
Facebook was then used by Davies to make it appear as though he was just a concerned friend.
In one exchange he writes: 'I feel sorry for her mother.'
When asked why, he replies: 'Well if I was a parent I'd be worried if my daughter was missing.'
The murder trial heard how the teenage love affair turned to a love-hate relationship and then ultimately an horrific murder.
Davies openly plotted to murder Rebecca sending chilling text messages to his friends about how he planned to do it.
The jury was even given a list of text sayings and symbols used on Facebook, MSN, texts and other social media to help them understand the conversations between the teenagers.
In one text to a friend Davies asked: 'What would you do if I actually did kill her?'
The friend replied: 'Oh, I would buy you breakfast.'
Two days before the brutal murder Davies sent a text saying: 'Don't say anything but you may just owe me a breakfast.'
His friend replied: 'Best text I have ever had mate. Seriously, if it is true I am happy to pay for a breakfast.
'I want all the details. You sadistic bastard.' The text finished with a smiley face symbol.
The court heard that on the morning of the murder Davies and his best friend had breakfast together at their local cafe in the village of Aberkenfig, near Bridgend, South Wales.
Before he left to meet his ex-girlfriend he told his friend: 'The time has come.'
GCSE student Rebecca was driven to the village by an aunt on the morning of Saturday, October 23 where Davies was waiting to meet her.
Minutes later the pair walked into woods where Davies picked up a rock and repeatedly struck his ex-girlfriend over the head.
Prosecutor Greg Taylor QC said: 'After killing Rebecca in the woods Davies asked his two friends to meet him in the forest.
'One of the boys could see her lying face down, he was shaking and angry. He wanted to go and help her.
'He glimpsed at her body and thought: "Oh my God, she's dead."
'Davies told him to pull back her hood to see if she was dead but he didn't want to.'
Mr Taylor told the court how Davies then described to his friends how he had killed the schoolgirl.
He said: 'Joshua told his friends: "She was facing away from me and I thought: "This is it, I'm going to go for it.
"I tried to break her neck. She was screaming so I picked up the rock and started to hit her with it.
"The worst part was feeling and seeing her skull give way".'
Rebecca's mother Sonia reported her missing when she failed to arrive back at the family home in Maesteg, near Bridgend.
Her body was found face down in the woods the next day.
Davies denied murder and blamed his best friend for Rebecca's death.
But a jury found him guilty of murder and was warned by the judge he will be detained 'at Her Majesty's pleasure'.
The judge adjourned sentence for psychiatric reports and to decide on a minimum period of when the Davies will be eligible for parole.dailymail.co.uk
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