Mary-Ann’s friend tells of failed murder bid ordeal

A TEENAGER has told how she survived being shot in the head after witnessing the brutal murder of her best friend, Mary-Ann Leneghan.

The 19-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, amazingly survived and bravely gave evidence in court to put Mary-Ann’s murderers behind bars.

The pair suffered a three-hour ordeal of torture, rape and violence at the hands of a gang of six men before the killing.

The men have been told they face life sentences after their convictions for the murder, which took place at a park in Reading last May.

Her friend told the News of the World how the gang repeatedly stabbed Mary-Ann in front of her.

She was told her last moments would be to watch her friend being butchered.

“The gun was pressed on my forehead. I felt the metal against my skull and it went off. I remember falling to the ground.”

The girl remembered hearing “ringing and alarms” in her head before she passed out. The bullet had smashed against her skull but failed to penetrate the bone.

Drug dealer Adrian Thomas, 20, and fellow gang-members Michael Johnson, 19, Jamaile Morally, 22, and 18-year-old Indrit Krasniqi, were all serving community sentences at the time of the killing.

Thomas, Morally and Krasniqi were convicted of murder alongside 24-year-old Llewellyn Adams and Morally’s older brother Joshua, 23, during an eight-week trial.

“Justice has been done but nothing will ever bring back my best friend. She didn’t deserve to die like that. I watched as they butchered Mary-Ann. They stuck a knife in her more than 40 times but I was helpless to save her,” Mary-Ann’s friend said.