A police chief said “we should all have done more” to tackle knife crime after a teenager was murdered in a busy city street.

Mustafa Momand was knifed to death in broad daylight by a 16-year-old boy. The boy was yesterday convicted of his murder.

Speaking after the conclusion of the trial at Brighton Youth Court, Detective  Chief Inspector Simon Yates called on youngsters tempted by drug dealing and carrying knives to be “brave enough to step away”.

Sussex Police's knife crime lead said: “Mustafa has lost his life so we should all have done more. If there hadn’t been a knife we would have been looking at assaults with fists – instead we are looking at murders.

“The impact on the community has been vast and it shows the impact of what carrying a knife can actually do.

“For those being led into this it’s around being brave enough when your first approached to talk to people around the new friends you have got who have bought you those trainers and are leading you down that path.

“They need to be brave enough to step away and speak to people so we can help and support them.”

DCI Yates said Sussex was a “really safe place to live” in comparison with national statistics but this “doesn’t take away the impact of the offence”.

Mustafa, 17, was murdered over a £20,000 drug debt. He was stabbed in the street on October 5 last year and ran for his life before collapsing in Queen’s Road just metres away from Brighton Station.

He was taken to the city's Royal Sussex County Hospital where surgeons performed emergency surgery, opening his chest and sewing up his pulmonary artery.

His 16-year-old attacker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied murder but was unanimously found guilty.

Mr Justice Adam Constable KC, presiding over the case, praised Mustafa’s parents for their dignity throughout the trial.

The teenager will be sentenced on May 2. He will automatically receive a life sentence but a judge will decide how long it will be before he is eligible for parole.