Guilty verdict in Florida murder trial

A teenager has been found guilty of the murders of two British tourists shot dead in Florida last year. James Kouzaris, 24, from Northampton and his friend James Cooper, 25, were gunned down after they drunkenly walked into a public housing estate in the Newtown area of Sarasota in the early hours of 16 April 2011.

Shawn Tyson, 17, was today found guilty of two counts of first degree murder after a trial at Sarasota County Courthouse. Tyson was charged as an adult and faces life in jail without parole.

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It took the jury of eight women and four men about two hours to convict Tyson of murder in the first degree of both men. The 17-year-old, wearing an orange shirt and brown tie, sat emotionless as the verdict was read out to the court, as did his mother Kenyatta Whitfield, in the public gallery.

Mr Kouzaris, from Northampton, and Mr Cooper, drunkenly walked into The Court in the early hours of April 16. They were confronted by Tyson, who tried to rob them, then when they had no money, told them: "well since you ain't got no money, I got something for your ass".

The men pleaded to go home, saying they were drunk, but the teenager, then 16, shot first one of them, then the other. When they were found, both still had their wallets and cash - Mr Cooper had $63.45, while Mr Kouzaris had $62.05.

Tyson boasted to friend Latrece Washington that one of the victims was "crying for his life", and he had shot him and "emptied the clip on him". The teenager was seen by neighbours running to his house and climbing in the window just after the gunshots. He also told another friend, Marvin Gaines, he had killed the men.

The families of murder victims James Cooper and James Kouzaris said Shawn Tyson was "evil" .

The families of Mr Kouzaris and Mr Cooper, fron Hampton Lucy, Warwick, have not been at the trial, but friends Paul Davies and Joe Hallett have sat through the case.