Two teenagers have been found not guilty of murdering 15-year-old Amen Teklay, who died in Glasgow last year after being struck by a sword.Amen was found seriously injured on Clarendon Street, Maryhill, on the evening of March 5 last year and died at the scene.The two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering the 15-year-old in a sword attack.They had each denied the murder, with the 16-year-old lodging a special defence of self-defence.Today, jurors returned a verdict of not guilty for both teenagers on their second day of deliberations.The murder charge had alleged the two teenage boys, with their faces masked, assaulted Amen and brandished a frying pan and a sword or similar instrument at him at Glenfarg Street and Clarendon Street on March 5 last year.It had said that Amen was struck on the body with the sword, leaving him so severely injured that he died.The 16-year-old had accepted that he stabbed Amen and the jury was asked to decide if he acted in self-defence or if he may have been provoked. Amen was found seriously injured on Clarendon Street, Glasgow, and died at the scene.Jurors were also asked to consider whether the second accused, who is 17, acted in concert with the first.In his closing speech on Friday the defence KC for the 17-year-old accused said he believed 'he had done nothing wrong'.Lawyer Iain McSporran KC said the accused boy 'did not lay a finger on Amen Teklay'.He said that on the day of the incident, Amen had 'gone out of his way' to find the first accused, and that Amen had been armed with a weapon described as a “cutlass” or a “pirate sword”.The 17-year-old had not participated in the violence that followed, Mr McSporran said.The trial took place before Lord Colbeck, who thanked the jurors for their service before discharging them.Amen’s family who were in the public gallery were seen to be visibly emotional after the not guilty verdict was announced.A statement from Amen's family was read outside of the High Court by Jamie O'Neill - a community development worker at Kingsway Community Connections which supported Amen and his family prior to his death. Flowers were left on Clarendon Street last year following Amen's deathThe statement said: ‘Obviously, the family are still processing the decision of the court and it's not a decision that they expected or wanted.‘Today is an important and emotional day for Amen's family, his friends and everyone who knew him.‘Our thoughts remain with Amen's family and no court process can take away the pain of losing a child. They remain very much in our thoughts this afternoon.‘Amen was more than the circumstances of his death. He was a young man who was known, valued and cared about by so many.‘His loss has been felt deeply not only by those closest to him but by the people across our community.‘Since Amen's death we have seen the very best of people as they have come together to support one another through an incredibly difficult time.‘We have also seen the fear, sadness and uncertainty which violence leaves behind.‘Its impact reaches far beyond those involved and it is felt by families, friends, neighbours and young people across our country. Police carried out searches in Glasgow following Amen's death‘We hope today encourages more to reflect on what could be done so that fewer young people, fewer families and fewer communities have to experience this kind of loss.’The trial heard that the 16-year-old and Amen first met at Kelvinhall subway station in summer 2024.Jurors were told that Amen allegedly robbed the 16-year-old and another youth of drugs at knifepoint.This was said to have sparked a series of tit-for-tat incidents between the pair until the night of Amen’s death.In the days leading up the alleged murder, the 16-year-old allegedly sent a text message to an associate saying: ‘let’s get a whip and kill these man.’He also posed for three videos on social media with a red-bladed weapon he purchased online in January 2025 for £40.On the night of Amen’s death, the 16-year-old, the 17-year-old and friends had been playing football at pitches in the Maryhill area of Glasgow.It was heard that they later received a phone call from a friend informing them that Amen was ‘looking’ for the 16-year-old and another youth who was not on trial. Tributes were left in memory of Amen followjng a vigil in the city As the night progressed, the 16 and 17-year-olds on trial were alone when they came across Amen.During the trial, a witness told the court he saw one of the pair ‘holding a knife which seemed like a sword’ and that he later heard a ‘scream.’Another witness - delivery driver David Miller - had told jurors: ‘They looked like they were trying to punch each other but I didn’t see any weapons due to it being dark.’Mr Miller, 56, claimed he saw a someone ‘running’ and ‘collapsing’ with blood on the pavement. He dialled 999 to report the incident.Amen was initially treated at the scene before he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead that night.A post-mortem examination stated the cause of death was ‘stab wound to the chest inflicted by a blade measuring 19 or 20 centimetres in length.’The blade entered the left side of Amen’s chest at the level of the nipple area. The sword passed through cartilage, the heart, muscles and right lung before exiting the body causing a stab wound to the back which measured one-and-a-half centimetres in length.Prosecutor Adrian Stalker stated that this resulted in ‘rapid blood loss’ and was ‘unsurvivable.’A ‘zombie machete’ had been recovered from under Amen’s body which was not the weapon that had killed him.During the trial, the 17-year-old stated that after the incident, he boarded a bus to a friend’s house in the city’s Gallowgate where he stayed for two nights.The 16-year-old meantime got rid of his blood stained jogging bottoms and drove his e-scooter to Kelvingrove Park where he claimed that he kicked the knife near a river.Jurors were told that the boy made a number of internet searches on his phone the next day.These included: ‘Glasgow stabbing’, ‘14 year old murder UK’, ‘Murder charge sentence UK’ and ‘Where first offenders under 18 get sent for major crimes UK.’Another search said: ‘Amen Glasgow evidence.’It was stated that the phone also had evidence of searches on social media app TikTok which included ‘Amen Glasgow’.The phone’s search history also showed a string of news websites reporting on the incident.The search history also revealed a webpage which had the heading: ‘Can you legally stab someone in self-defence?’Jurors were told at the beginning of the trial that the 16-year-old boy lodged a special defence of self-defence.He told the court in his evidence that Amen, while armed with a knife, ‘jumped’ out from near a car towards them.The 16-year-old stated that he and Amen both swung knives at each other while the 17-year-old was ‘a bit back’ from them.He claimed that Amen turned his attention to the 17-year-old, who had a frying pan, and ‘thought he was going to stab him.’The boy stated that he told Amen that the 17-year-old had ‘nothing to do with this.’He added: ‘Amen turned 180 degrees towards me. He obviously had the knife up as he was chasing the 17-year-old. He did a 180 towards me. He had the knife still up.‘I took my knife and I stabbed him.’When asked by his defence counsel about the three social media videos of him with the murder weapon, the 16-year-old said that he was ‘trying to build a persona’ and it was ‘very stupid.’Amen lived in Glasgow with his father but was originally from Eritrea,A memorial service was held for the schoolboy in Glasgow’s Kinning Park Parish Church after his death, with his body flown to Ethiopia for a full funeral.Amen’s sister Delina said: ‘Amen’s death has been so hard on our family. The impact it has had on us, on me, it difficult to even to put into words.‘My brother’s death has devastated our lives. Nothing will ever be the same for us again.’