Teenagers who clashed with schoolboy, 15, in knife fight that ended in his death in row over stolen e-scooter are jailed for two years each
- Kayjon Lubin, 15, was stabbed to death after two groups of armed youths clashed
- The Old Bailey heard that he and his friend, 28, were set upon by teens last year
- Raymond McGill and Gift Osondu were masked in attack over stolen e-scooter
- Both cleared of murder, convicted of violent disorder and having a bladed article
Two teenagers who took part in a knife fight that ended with a schoolboy dead were jailed for two years each.
Kayjon Lubin, 15, was stabbed to death after two groups of armed youths in Pier Parade, Beckton, east London, had a confrontation over a stolen e-scooter at 6.30pm on December 11 last year.
The jury at the Old Bailey heard that Kayjon and his friend Azhar Miah, 28, were set upon by two youths who believed the pair had stolen their electric scooter.
Kayjon was stabbed to death and was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
After recently turning 18, the two youths responsible can now be named.
Kayjon Lubin, 15, was stabbed to death after two groups of armed youths in Pier Parade, Beckton, east London, had a confrontation over a stolen e-scooter
Raymond McGill and Gift Osondu, both 17 at the time, were cleared of murder and manslaughter but convicted of violent disorder and having a bladed article by a jury after a six-week trial.
Kayjon’s friend Miah was also convicted of violent disorder and having a bladed article during the incident.
Judge Simon Mayo QC, sentencing McGill and Osondu today, added that there had been a significant degree of planning.
‘It is a sad, needless, and tragic loss of a young man’s life,’ he said.
‘I am satisfied that you [McGill and Osondu] were the instigators of the incident and that you each played a leading role.
‘You were each armed with large knives, this makes your offending considerably more serious.’
‘You were both masked in an attempted to avoid detection.
‘Mr Osondu you had also moved your backpack onto the front of your chest so that you could quickly access the knife you had concealed within.
‘I am sure you were intent on finding Kayjon Lubin and Azhar Miah and recovering the scooter that Kayjon had taken minutes earlier.
‘I am sure that you were prepared to use force to do so.’
The defence barristers for both McGill and Osondu, Steven Perian QC and Yasin Patel respectively, had previously offered their clients’ young ages and immaturity in mitigation.
Judge Mayo made reference to this: ‘In your cases Raymond McGill and Gift Osondu I must give proper weight to your age and immaturity.
Kayjon was pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem examination established cause of death as a single stab wound to the chest
‘I will therefore significantly reduce the sentence that I would have imposed upon you had you been older.’
Miah was also jailed for 17 months.
He continued: ‘In your case Azhar Miah…I proceed on the basis that you did not initiate this confrontation but were drawn into this incident when Raymond McGill and Gift Osondu arrived in the square armed with knives and Kayjon Lubin approached them.
‘I take into account the fact that you are profoundly deaf and as a result any period of custody is likely to be more difficult for you.’
The court also heard an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the knives.
James Mulholland, prosecuting, earlier told the court that Kayjon was stabbed twice in a street in North Woolwich.
‘One of the injuries entered his chest and penetrated to a depth of just under three inches piercing his right lung and causing massive blood loss.
‘Kayjon Lubin thereafter briefly ran from his attackers and sought sanctuary in a nearby shop but he collapsed within seconds of the blows being inflicted.
‘Members of the public tended to him at the scene as did police and doctors but it was to no avail.
‘He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at 19.40 hours.
‘He was only 15 years of age.
‘It is the prosecution case that his attackers were the two defendants.’
Jurors were told that minutes before the stabbing, the 17-year-olds arrived at Pier Parade Square to confront Kayjon and Miah over the e-scooter.
‘They were looking to reclaim the scooter that had been taken from them and were clearly prepared to use force to achieve that goal,’ the prosecutor said.
‘They found Kayjon and his friend talking in a small group a short distance from Kayjon Lubin’s home.
‘Almost immediately after these defendants arrived at the square, all four individuals had pulled out large knives and, over the next couple of minutes, a confrontation took place between them as others looked on.
‘Both sets of youths moved around this square each, from time to time, on their toes and bobbing from side to side.
‘Occasionally an individual would move quickly forward towards another before then backing off all without any physical contact being made.
‘That came to an end.
‘The distance between two pairs eventually increased and the incident was ended by young Kayjon Lubin, who began to walk away from his adversaries along with Azhar Miah in the opposite direction.
‘He was heading in the general direction of his home address.
‘Both he and Azhar Miah put away their knives.
‘They left the square and began to cross a nearby road as they departed the scene.
‘Neither male posed any immediate threat at that stage. They had put away their knives and they were leaving the area.’
Police at the scene in Woodman Street, Newham in east London where a Kayjon Lubin, 15, died after being stabbed on December 11 last year
The 17-year-olds initially went in a different direction, but appeared to change their mind, and started to follow their rivals.
Mr Mulholland continued: ‘They saw it as an opportunity to take Kayjon Lubin, and, we submit, Azhar Miah, by surprise and to cause really serious harm.
‘There was some shouting and then the words ‘wait there’ were heard.
‘Both the teenagers then started to sprint from a distance away with knives in their hands towards Kayjon Lubin and Azhar Miah who by now had already crossed the road and were still seeking to leave the area.
‘Someone is heard to shout ‘run’ but by that stage it was too late for them to do so.’
Kayjon managed to get his own knife out of his coat and grazed the cheek of one of his attackers but he ended up stabbed in the chest, the court heard.
He and Miah ran away and sought refuge in a nearby Nisa shop.
‘Kayjon Lubin collapsed within seconds of arriving in Cromwell Stores and the emergency services were called by the shopkeeper,’ the prosecutor explained.
‘Meanwhile Azhar Miah sought to dispose of the knives that he and Kayjon Lubin had been carrying that evening with the help of others.
‘These were eventually recovered from a nearby bin in a residential flat.’
McGill and Osondu, both from east London, denied and were cleared of murder and manslaughter.
They were both convicted of violent disorder and having a bladed article and were each sentenced to two years in a young offenders’ institution.
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