A teenager has been found guilty of stabbing a 17-year-old before pushing him into a canal.

Victor Lee, from North Acton, was pulled from the Grand Union Canal in Scrubs Lane but died at the scene.

He was stabbed and pushed into the water at around 5.30pm on June 25 last year after meeting up with his killer, 18-year-old Elijah Gookol-Mely, to sell him knives.

Police have said that Gookol-Mely showed  a “lack of remorse” over the killing.

A notebook, containing handwritten verses in which he boasted about what he had done, was recovered from his prison cell in December last year.

One verse read: “On the phone I’m saying I’m innocent; hop of [sic] the call then laugh in my cell.

“Aye officer no I didn’t kill him; just stabbed him sent him heaven or hell.”

At 3pm on the day of his murder, Victor sold a crossbow, which he had recently bought online, to Gookol-Mely, who he had met via Snapchat.

He was then robbed and murdered while trying to sell knives to the 18-year-old later that day.

Police said that although Victor was not directly involved in gangs, he had developed an interest in buying weapons online to sell for profit.

They said that robbery was the motive for the attack, with Gookol-Mely stealing Victor’s bike and his rucksack.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, the senior investigating officer who led the investigation, said: “I would like the focus today to be on the tragedy that Victor’s family have suffered and on the part that young people being able to easily buy knives and other weapons played in his death.”

He added: “Victor had his life ahead of him and his family have been torn apart by what happened to him.

“They are understandably still struggling to come to terms with his murder, and the events that led to his death at such a young age.

“My thoughts are with them today, and I can only hope that today’s conviction can bring them some small measure of comfort.”

At the Old Bailey today (June 17), Gookol-Mely, of Australia Road, White City, was found guilty of Victor's murder and robbery.

He will be sentenced at the same court on July 19.

Two other teenagers, aged 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, were found not guilty of murder and robbery at the end of the trial.