Father's heartbreak over murdered son who used last breath to say killers’ names

The father of a murdered teenager has praised his son for using his last words to name his killers.

Reece Tansey, 15, died after he was stabbed six times in an attack near a park in Bolton on 4 May last year.

Last week, reporting restrictions were lifted that allowed his killers, James White, 16, and Mark Nuttall, 15, to be identified.

White was found guilty of murder and jailed for 15 years, while Nuttall was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison.

The pair killed Reece near Great Lever Park in Bolton after arranging to meet up through Snapchat for a fight.

After he was stabbed, Reece managed to bang on the door of a nearby house before falling to the ground. When he was discovered by two men, he used his dying breath to name his killers.

Reece’s father, Ian Nice, 47, said his son finally has “closure” after a judge lifted a ban on naming his killers, who had been known in court as Boy A and Boy B.

“It would have been hard for Reece that they weren’t named, and now he’s got closure,” said Mr Nice.

“It was also hard because we couldn’t put anything on social media. We couldn’t put the names out there, but now it’s a relief.

“I know that Reece wanted to carry that on, with them being named. Reece’s last words before he died were the names of the lads.”

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Manchester Crown Court heard that White and Nuttall “pretended they were gangsters”, and left home armed with a knife each before going to meet Reece.

They had coaxed Reece and one of his friends into meeting them for a fight, but the friend did not go, leaving Reece on his own, unarmed and outnumbered.

After stabbing Reece, White posted a Snapchat video of himself carrying a knife covered in blood.

He also sent a message to Nuttall, which read: "I thought it only went through his coat so I kept doing it. He's dead now."

Nuttall replied with a laughing emoji.

Nice is now part of a charity called Stop Knife Crime Bolton and plans to talk to young people about what happened to Reece.

Nice, who works in traffic management, said he last spoke to Reece in the hours before his death, when asking him to come over to his home for a takeaway.

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He said: “I’m so annoyed he didn’t come to mine that night – I blame myself. But I couldn’t push Reece, I couldn’t force him to come to mine.

“I brought him into the world. I held him in my hands when he was born, and I cut the cord. And not me being there on his last moments in life, that hurts me.

“But I’m so proud of him. If I had been stabbed several times, I’m sure I would have fallen to the floor and that would be it.

“He knocked on someone’s door crying for help, and they held his hand – they were with him until he died. I thanked the people dearly for what they did for my son and spoke to them.

“He wasn’t just my son, he was my best friend, and I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye and hold his hand and say: ‘I love you, son’.”