Anthony killer's parents to lose home; Tenancy contract breached.

Byline: BY GREG O'KEEFFE Daily Post Correspondent

THE parents of the racist killer convicted of murdering Liverpool teenager Anthony Walker are set to be evicted from their council house.

Knowsley Housing Trust served an eviction notice on Michael Barton's parents yesterday morning, and will ask the courts to repossess the house in Huyton.

Trust managers decided to force the 17-year-old's family out, claiming they breached their tenancy contract by failing to control their son.

Michael Barton, 17, the brother of Manchester City footballer Joey

Barton, is serving 17 years for murdering devout Christian Anthony in Huyton's McGoldrick Park last July. Barton, 17, and his cousin, Paul Taylor, 20, killed the black A-level student with an axe, in an act of "poisonous racist thuggery".

Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT) served a notice seeking possession of the Barton family home on Boundary Road on March 1 and has applied to the county court for a warrant for possession.

Chief Executive, Bob Taylor, said: "As the major landlord in Knowsley, KHT is committed to working alongside the police and other agencies to help deliver safe, stable communities.

"One of the key ways we are able to contribute to this is through our tenancy agreements.

"Any act of crime or anti-social behaviour by a tenant or a member of their household constitutes a breach of their tenancy and will result in us seeking to repossess their home.

"The crime in question, which so appalled the nation, was committed while Barton was a resident at one of our properties and we are therefore applying to gain repossession of the home, in line with our policy."

Anthony was waiting in a bus shelter with his cousin Marcus Binns, 18, and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Louise Thompson, when Barton, who was standing outside the Huyton Park pub, in St John's Road, subjected Anthony and Marcus to a torrent of racist abuse.

Taylor sped round McGoldrick Park, carrying Barton and the murder weapon he supplied him with in his car, and the pair lay in wait for the group in the bushes.

They jumped out and, as Louise and Marcus fled, Taylor struck Anthony with the axe which embedded in his skull. They later fled to an Amsterdam city centre hotel and only returned after relatives pleaded with them to return, including a TV appeal by Joey Barton.

Mr Taylor added: "We believe this policy sends out a very clear message to the community that no form of criminal activity or anti-social behaviour will be tolerated.

"We intend to stand by this policy in this and every such case."

A 45-year-old Huyton resident, who lives near to the Bartons, said: "If this works, good riddance to them.

"What Michael did brought shame on us all and put Huyton in the news for the very worst of reasons.

"Anthony's parents shouldn't have to see Barton's parents going about their lives in their nice house as if nothing ever happened. I'd congratulate KHT and so would the majority."

Barton and Taylor have already sickened prison guards with their arrogance and contempt at Strangeways prison, where they were held on remand.

Barton has since been moved to a young offenders' institution in the North East. He is being held in a high-security unit, where warders are on the alert for trouble because a third of the violent inmates are black.

CAPTION(S):

Anthony Walker' Michael Barton's father, Joseph, at the trial: he is to be evicted' Michael Barton