A teenager who stabbed 15-year-old schoolgirl Elianne Andam to death in a row over a teddy bear has been jailed for life and must serve at least 23 years.
Hassan Sentamu, 18, attacked Elianne with a kitchen knife near the Whitgift Centre in central Croydon in September 2023 after she stood up for his ex-girlfriend, who was her friend.
The schoolgirl was repeatedly stabbed in what police described as a “frenzied” attack that was caught on CCTV.
Sentamu, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested less than 90 minutes later after getting off a bus.
The boy, of Rowdown Crescent, New Addington, admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the basis of “loss of control” because he has autism.
He was found guilty of murder and possession of a knife in January following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Sentamu had recently broken up with a friend of Elianne’s, whom he had agreed to meet up with to return items, including a teddy bear, that they exchanged while they were going out together, the court heard.
But he instead came armed with a knife, wearing two pairs of gloves and a facemask, and when Elianne ran up behind him and grabbed a bag of items that had been returned to him, he chased and stabbed her multiple times.
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