A woman who stabbed a Hillingdon teenager, whilst egged on by pals in a row over stolen pasta, has been found guilty of his murder.

Maxine Benson, 32, was convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury on Tuesday (April 26).

She knifed 18-year-old Alfie Stone to death after he, and his brother Jake, were accused of stealing pasta shells from a communal kitchen at a block of bedsits in Ickenham.

The 18-year-old, who formerly attended Pield Heath House School, desperately tried to use a chip shop advertising board as a shield, but died hours after the attack on High Road, Ickenham, near West Ruislip station, on November 9 2015.

The prosecution previously claimed Benson's friends Steven Hawgood, 28, and 29-year-old Corine Cripps egged her on by shouting 'Stab um, stab um'.

Cripps and Hawgood were both cleared of murder on Tuesday (April 26) and the jury deliberated as to whether to convict the pair of an alternative charge of manslaughter.

The jury was eventually discharged later that day after being unable to reach a verdict. The prosecution may seek a retrial.

The Old Bailey jury were discharged on Tuesday (April 26) afternoon after failing to reach verdicts on the lesser charge.

Benson, of no fixed address, Hawgood, of Kingston Avenue, West Drayton, and Cripps, of High Road, Ickenham, all denied murder but Benson pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Official opening of cycle track and mobility centre at Pield Heath House School. Pield Heath Road UB8 3NW Hayes. Alfie Stone 17

Paramedics saved brother's life

Alfie and brother Jake knew the area well because their sister Shannon was a tenant in one of the bedsits, although she had moved out a few weeks before the attack.

Two days before the murder, Jake had stayed at the address following a fight with his mother, and allegedly took the food from the communal kitchen.

The argument that led to Alfi's murder took place two days later when the brothers returned to try and collect some of their sister's possessions.

During Benson's trial, on Tuesday (April 5), the Old Bailey heard how Alfie's brother, Jake Stone, also sustained a serious wound to the chest, but emergency crews were able to save his life.

Benson's neighbours at the bedsits, Hawgood and Cripps, cried "Stab um, stab um" as she wielded the knife, before fleeing the area.

The pair checked into a hotel near Heathrow Airport , before being charged on November 12 , and Benson lay low with a friend until she handed herself into police the following day, and was arrested on suspicion of murder.

'My life is finished'

The court heard that, after the killing, Benson passed the knife to a neighbour who cleaned it for her, and also lent her a clean pair of trousers.

When Cripps and Hawgood were tracked down, Cripps told police they had booked into the hotel to get away from the attention their block of flats was getting. But Hawgood offered a conflicting story - that they were off to a wedding.

Benson is said to have confessed to a friend over the phone, saying: "My life's finished. I didn't mean to stab him.

"It happened in the scuffle in the alleyway. He was wearing a big puffa jacket. I didn't think it had gone in."

She handed herself into a police Station the next day.

The court will now decide whether or not Cripps and Hawgood will face a retrial as Benson's sentence is decided.