The court heard Stroud, of Eastcote Terrace, Walker, Newcastle, had no previous convictions while Lopes, of Archer Street, Byker, had previously attacked lone people with his gang and Tams, of Wesley Court, Felling, had been caught with a knife.
Voice notes were found on Tams’ phone in which he boasted about wanting to stab people.
In mitigation for Stroud, Francis Fitzgibbon KC she had been “abandoned, abused and exploited throughout her life” and “violence was normalised” in infancy.
Toby Hedworth KC, for Lopes, said all three killers were “damaged goods”.
He said the 18-year-old was a product of his “dreadful upbringing”, having grown up surrounded by criminals in Portugal before moving to the UK, at the age of seven, where he had been persistently bullied.
Mark McKone KC said Tams did not have the maturity of a “usual” 17-year-old and his history made for “tragic reading”, adding: “Through no fault of his own [Tams] has been witness to a lot of violence as a child.”
