Teenagers and children convicted of stabbing other youngsters to death this year
There should be a “vitally important debate” about the “scourge of knife crime” among young people, a judge has said.
Bardia Shojaeifard, who was described in court as an “outwardly normal” 15-year-old boy with a “worrying interest in knives”, was detained for life on Friday with a minimum term of 13 years after being found guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Alfie Lewis in Horsforth, Leeds, last November.
Bardia Shojaeifard. Pic: West Yorkshire Police
Alfie Lewis
Shojaeifard, who was 14 at the time of the attack, stabbed Alfie through the heart on the way home from school.
The “senseless” killing is one in a long line of fatal knife attacks involving teenagers over the past year.
Knife crime in England and Wales rose by 7% in the year to December 2023 compared with the previous 12 months, according to official figures. But the total of 49,489 recorded offences remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Brianna Ghey murder
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were given life sentences in prison in February for the “sadistic” murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, who was transgender.
Brianna Ghey
Scarlett Jenkinson
Eddie Ratcliffe
The pair were 15 at the time of the attack. Jenkinson must serve a minimum of 22 years before parole and Ratcliffe 20 years for killing Brianna who was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, in February 2023.
Renell Charles murder
A teenager who got out of a taxi and chased and stabbed 16-year-old schoolboy Renell Charles was convicted of murder in February.
Renell Charles. Pic: Met Police
The unnamed killer, who was 16 at the time of the attack in May last year, was found guilty of murdering Renell in a “brutal attack” in Walthamstow, northeast London.
Shea Gordon murder
Seventeen-year-old Shea Gordon was stabbed repeatedly in the street in September 2022 after he attended a party at a hall in Mile End, east London.
Abdul Yaro and Kavian Vaughans were convicted of his murder and jailed for life in February with a minimum term of 21 years. They were aged 19 and 18 respectively at the time of sentencing.
Dainnan Witter-Cameron and Giovanni Addae-Johnson, both 18 at the time of sentencing, were jailed for eight years for his manslaughter after being convicted following a trial last year.
Khaled Saleh killing
A 17-year-old boy was found guilty of manslaughter in February after another teenager was stabbed to death.
The youth, who cannot legally be identified, was convicted over the stabbing of 17-year-old Khaled Saleh in Paddington Green, west London, in June last year.
Gordon Gault killing
Fourteen-year-old Gordon Gault was stabbed on the arm with a machete as he rode on the back of a friend’s e-bike in Newcastle’s West End in November 2022 and died six days later in hospital.
Gordon Gault. Pic: PA
Carlos Neto. Pic: PA
Lawson Natty. Pic: PA
Six teenagers went on trial at Newcastle Crown Court and were cleared of murder, but Carlos Neto, of Salford, Greater Manchester, and Lawson Natty, of Newcastle, were convicted of manslaughter in March.
Neto was sentenced to nine years and two months while Natty, who was born in Belgium, was sentenced to 32 months, after which he could face deportation. Both killers were 18 when they were sentenced.
Rahaan Ahmed Amin murder
Police warned how “easy” it is for teenagers to buy weapons and urged parents to check purchases after a youth killed a 16-year-old boy with a “ninja-style” sword.
Rahaan Ahmed Amin. Pic: PA
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty in May of murder following a trial at the Old Bailey, after slashing Rahaan Ahmed Amin in the chest in Newham, east London, last July in retribution for an earlier stabbing.
Mikey Roynon murder
Shane Cunningham fatally stabbed Mikey Roynon, 16, in the neck with a large knife during a house party in Bath, Somerset, in June last year.
Cunningham, 16 at the time of sentencing, was convicted of murder while his two friends, Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight, were found guilty of Mikey’s manslaughter, after a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Mikey Roynon. Pic: PA
(L-R): Shane Cunningham, Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight. Pic: Avon and Somerset Police via PA
Cunningham was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years’ detention, while Bushnell and Knight, both 16 at time of sentencing, were given nine years and nine-and-a-half years in youth detention respectively.
The judge in the trial warned of a “plague of knife crime” in Bristol.
Haidar Shah and Joshua Clark murder
A teenager who stabbed three men, killing two, after an argument over a girl in a club was jailed in June for a minimum of 28 years.
Haidar Shah. Pic: West Yorkshire Police
Joshua Clarke. Pic: West Yorkshire Police
Rashane Douglas, 19, stabbed Haidar Shah, 19, Joshua Clark, 21, and Brandon Coupe, 18, in the chest within seconds of each other following a row outside a nightclub in Halifax, West Yorkshire, last October. Mr Shah and Mr Clark died from stab wounds, while Mr Coupe survived.
Rashane Douglas. Pic: West Yorkshire Police
Douglas was jailed for life in June with a minimum term of 28 years.
Shawn Seesahai murder
Two 12-year-old boys were found guilty in June of a machete attack on 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai, who was stabbed through the heart in a Wolverhampton park.
Shawn Seesahai. Pic: West Midlands Police
The unnamed pair were thought to be the youngest defendants convicted of murder in Britain since Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 11, were found guilty in 1993 of killing two-year-old James Bulger.
Victor Lee murder
Seventeen-year-old Victor Lee was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal, near Wormwood Scrubs Park, in June last year.
Victor Lee. Pic: Met Police
This June, Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, was convicted of murdering Victor before pushing him into a west London canal.
Charlie Cosser murder
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Cosser was stabbed three times in the chest in a marquee at a private party attended by more than 100 people in Warnham, West Sussex, last July.
Charlie Cosser. Pic: Sussex Police/PA
Yura Varybrus. Pic: Family handout/Sussex Police/PA
His killer Yura Varybrus, who was 16 at the time, was found guilty in June of murder and having a bladed article.
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she would listen to victims on a new panel that was announced by the government this week.
“Nothing is off the table,” she said.
“And if the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Politics latest: Tories told to ‘put up or shut up’
Her comments come days after it emerged she had rejected calls from Oldham Council to hold a government inquiry into grooming gangs in the town, and said the council should commission one instead.
That has led to tech billionaire Elon Musk attacking her and Sir Keir Starmer for not holding a national inquiry and accusing the prime minister of being “complicit” in the abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay finished an eight-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022 and set out recommendations for the government.
Read more:
What happened in the grooming gangs scandal?
Why the Tories’ attempts to force inquiry won’t work
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Education sec ‘not interested’ in Musk comments
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Safeguarding and Schools Bill on Wednesday to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
However, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News the Tories “don’t care about children” as the amendment could prevent the entire bill from going forward.
She said: “The measures that I’m setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.
“And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don’t care about children, they don’t care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.
“They had years to do it and they didn’t do it.”
The Conservatives also rejected a call from Oldham Council for a government inquiry in 2022.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction released on Thursday.
The 14-year-old who was stabbed to death on a bus in southeast London yesterday has been named as Kelyan Bokassa.
He was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich Church Street, close to the Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm on Tuesday.
The teenager died at the scene shortly after medical help arrived.
The Metropolitan Police called the stabbing a “horrific attack,” while London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said the “heart-breaking violence has absolutely no place in our city”.
No arrests have been made so far but officers are appealing for witnesses who were on the 472 bus.
Tributes were left to the teenager, who was a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School. Pic: PA
An aspiring rapper, 14-year-old Kelyan was also “briefly” a student at St Columba’s Catholic Boys School in Bexleyheath.
The South East London Catholic Academy Trust said in a statement it was “saddened by the loss of life” and added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
“Our schools will provide support to any of the students who may be affected by this senseless violence.”
Read more from Sky News:
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Mary Bokassa, the boy’s mother, also told MailOnline that he and others “were taken advantage by gangs” and “were groomed”.
She told the outlet: “He was missing for a year and was living on the street. He finally turned up at my doorstep, he was sick, underweight and tattooed.
“He was exposed to drugs. He probably experienced something because I could sense it. He was not himself. If I questioned him, he wouldn’t tell me anything about his friends.”
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Thorpe, who is leading the investigation, said: “Following Kelyan’s tragic death yesterday, specialist officers are now leading the investigation which is progressing at pace.
“If anyone saw this horrific attack or was in the area then I urge them to come forward and speak to officers.
“We’re particularly interested in any mobile phone footage that captured this incident or any dash cam or doorbell footage from around the surrounding area at the time of this incident.”
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