Thug, 28, stabbed 15-year-old to death in frenzied attack over stolen motorbike

24 January 2024 , 20:37

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Dylan Bragger was stabbed to death by Felipe Diglio Figueiredo in a row over a motorbike (Image: Police Handout)

An evil thug is facing a life sentence after he stabbed a teenage boy to death 23 times over a stolen motorbike.

Dylan Bragger, 15, was brutally murdered by Felipe Diglio Figueiredo in the row in which he confronted the youngster and another man over a dispute involving the bike. The 28-year-old killer, who was convicted of murder by a jury on Wednesday, had been seen on CCTV leaving his home in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on the evening of June 29 last year.

He had just received a text claiming his motorbike which had been stolen the previous evening had been seen on the housing estate he was living on. Moments later, he subjected Dylan to the horrific attack, stabbing him multiple times in the head, chest, back, abdomen and arms.

He then went home, calling the police at 9.30pm to hand himself in. Armed officers stormed Figueiredo's home arresting him for murder.

He later denied murder at trial, claiming he stabbed Dylan "a few times" out of self-defence. But a jury at Preston Crown Court failed to believe his lies, finding him guilty after hearing distressing evidence about the sheer volume of Dylan's injuries.

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Felipe Diglio Figueiredo faces a life sentence after he stabbed a teenage boy to death (Lancashire Police)

Dylan was stabbed 23 times all over his body (PA)

Detectives described the crime as a "heartbreaking tale of events" in which a young life was "abruptly snatched away". Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fallows, of Lancashire Police, said: “This is an utterly tragic case in which a 15-year-old boy with his whole life ahead of him has had that abruptly snatched away.

“My thoughts are with Dylan’s family and friends at what must be an extremely difficult time. I know this is a heartbreaking tale of events that has also rocked the local community and though clearly nothing can bring Dylan back, I’m pleased that the guilty verdict will bring the family some much-needed closure.

“Knife crime has no place in Lancashire and we will do all we can to spread the message that one decision to carry a knife, like in the case of Felipe Figueiredo, can not only take a life in the most ruthless of ways, but it can also destroy your own”. Dylan's death was one of dozens of cases of children and young people losing their lives to knife crime in the UK last year.

It comes amidst mounting pressure on authorities to properly tackle the scourge of knife crime, which was described this week as an "epidemic" by the father of Nottingham stabbing victim, Grace O'Malley-Kumar. Felipe Figueiredo will be sentenced on Friday at Preston Crown Court where he is expected to receive a life sentence.

Susie Beever