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.
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.
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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.
The unnamed killer, who was 16 at the time of the attack on May 5 last year, was found guilty of murdering Renell in a “brutal attack” in Walthamstow.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 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.
This June Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, was convicted of murdering Vitor 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 in the grounds of a farmhouse at a private party attended by more than 100 people in Warnham, West Sussex, last July.
His killer Yura Varybrus, who was 16 at the time, was found guilty in June of murder and having a bladed article.
