THE mother of murder victim Danielle Johnson has said her killer was a gang leader who admitted he carried a knife.

Jan Johnson, 41, told the Guardian she had warned her daughter against being friends with Marc King-Bromley and banned him from her house.

"I actually met him once, he came round. I asked him if he'd ever been in trouble and he said everyone got into trouble these days," she said.

"He said he always carried a shank (knife). I didn't even know what that was."

Ms Johnson said Danielle told her King-Bromley was in trouble quite a lot' and was a leader of a gang with the street name "Chingman."

She added: "I told her to stay away from him but she said she was OK and she could sense danger."

But Danielle had learning difficulties and was very trusting.

"No matter what anyone said to her, she wouldn't judge them," she added. "She'd just say they'd had a bad time and were OK people."

King-Bromley met the vulnerable 17-year-old on a bus and they exchanged numbers before forming a friendship over seven months.

Ms Johnson said seeing him in court was "devastating" and she was furious his guilty plea could lead to a more lenient sentence.

"He could be out in his 20s. He could come out and start a family. I'm not going to see Danielle with a family. I'm not going to see her happy," she said.

Ms Johnson said she had also been desperate to find out what really happened.

"I'll never know my daughter's last journey, that's very important to me. I've done that journey and I know how long it takes. I've walked the streets where he took her to the garages.

"But I'll never know what started it. Why did he feel like he had to go to that extreme?

She added: "If there was a death sentence and he was in an electric chair I would want to be the one to switch it on. I will never ever forgive him."

Ms Johnson spoke of how the murder had "wrecked her family" and destroyed Danielle's friends, many of whom had turned to alcohol to cope.

"My six-year-old son Renelle can't even sleep. He doesn't understand that she won't come back.

"He keeps on saying she's been gone long enough Mummy. It's time to come back'. How do I explain this to my little boy?" she said.