The mother of a teenage boy brutally stabbed at a western Sydney train station has broken down as she faced her son's murderer in court.
"He was too young to die," the mother told the Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday.
"A mother's protective instinct is such a strong force. It's heartbreaking when you feel you have failed your child."
Mosa Julius Mbele was found guilty of murdering the 16-year-old boy, who can't be named for legal reasons, at Bankstown train station in May 2011.
He had pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self defence but this was rejected by the jury after a trial earlier this year.
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The court heard Mbele, then aged 22, murdered the boy after a number of altercations because he wanted to show him he "owned" Bankstown.
The mother wept as she described coming home from a trip abroad to discover her child was in the morgue.
"I would given everything, including my life, to have (him) back," she said.
"He was far more loved and valuable than I will ever be."
The boy's father described hearing the news that his son had been stabbed and running to Bankstown train station to try and save him.
"I had a little thought in my head that it might be a little stab," the man said.
"But then I saw him lying on the platform, his body covered in a white sheet."
The boy's younger brother, who was stabbed in the leg during the fight with Mbele, described his pain at witnessing his big brother die.
"I want to thank you for everything you did for me," the boy said in a statement read out by a victim support worker.
"We miss you."
Mbele stared at his lap as the victim impact statements were read out.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
