Three teenagers have been sentenced for the murder of 16-year-old Kayden Moy, who was stabbed to death on Irvine Beach in North Ayrshire in May 2025 during a confrontation between rival gangs.
Cole Turley, 18, who had pleaded guilty to the murder, and Jay Stewart, 19, were each given life sentences with a minimum term of 16 years. A third defendant, a 15-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, was ordered to be detained for a minimum of 14 years. The sentences were handed down at the High Court in Glasgow.
Passing sentence, Judge Lord Scott described Moy's death as "pointless and unnecessary." He told the court that the attackers "travelled to Irvine, armed, intent on a reprisal for some slight," and added: "It could have been anyone but Kayden slipped and fell."
The court heard that Stewart and the 15-year-old, acting with Turley, chased Moy and repeatedly stabbed him with a lock knife after he fell to the ground. Stewart, who brandished a baton and shouted "Murray Boys," later told a witness that his victim "deserved it." After fleeing the scene, Turley pushed the knife into the grass and was overheard boasting that he "just done him." He also shouted "One-nil."
CCTV footage showed the three running down a road near the beach and stopping briefly to embrace one another. A friend, Fraser Wallace, whose flat was used as a hideout, told the court the teenagers were "over the moon" after the attack. "I have never seen people as happy in my life," he said.
The group later created a rap song mocking Moy while he was still fighting for his life in hospital. Turley also re-enacted the killing on a couch in Wallace's flat.
The trial heard the attackers were members of the Murray Boys gang from East Kilbride. Moy was a member of the rival Himshie group. Prosecutor Liam Ewing KC said the group's behavior after the killing was "the actions of those who have accomplished what they came to do."
Speaking outside the High Court, Moy's father Paul Moy addressed the sentencing directly. "While today's outcome brings a measure of justice, it does not bring peace, it does not bring our son back," he said. "Kayden was more than a name in the courtroom or a headline in the news, he was our son, he was loved beyond words and had his whole life ahead of him. We hope today's sentence sends a clear message that violence has a devastating and irreversible consequences."
