A teenager, who stabbed 18-year-old Bilal Mirza to death, has been revealed as 16-year-old Omar Majeed from Marylebone.

Reporting restrictions on Majeed's identity were lifted on Friday after the teenager was on Thursday sentenced to eight years in prison.

A judge, sitting at Isleworth Crown Court, lifted the order following an application from reporters at the sentencing hearing. Majeed was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year.

The youth had claimed he was trying to defend himself from Mirza, who he alleged was trying to rob him in the street. However, he was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court in July.

Mirza died after being stabbed in the leg in Salisbury Street, in the Lisson Grove area of Marylebone, at around 10.40pm on January 8.

He was treated by paramedics at the scene but died en-route to hospital. His cause of death was given as a stab wound to his right thigh that caused massive blood loss.

Bilal Mirza died after being stabbed in the thigh in Marylebone

The court previously heard the defendant say he had acted in self defence as Mirza, from Dowland Street, Queen’s Park, was intending to rob him.

The court was told Majeed and Mirza were known to each other and had even been described as friends.

But Majeed claimed that when he became aware Mirza was planning to rob him of money and his iPhone, he armed himself with a knife as a means of self-defence.

Witnesses to the tragedy said Majeed lunged at Mirza, stabbing him in the leg.

The 16-year-old left the scene and eventually returned home, before handing himself in to police at Paddington Green police station.

'Tragedy'

Majeed initially claimed the knife he used was a “little tool” with a three to four-inch blade, but it was never recovered.

The pathologist performing Mirza's post-mortem examination, however, said the blade that inflicted the fatal wound was much larger at around five-inches in length and two inches wide - like a kitchen knife.

In court under cross-examination, the defendant said the victim had taken a knife to the scene and it was this knife he took from the 18-year-old and used to stab him.

The defendant also claimed he had been trying to avoid Mirza, who had been having dinner at his grandmother’s that night.

The prosecution, however, said he would have been aware of where the victim was and took no action to take an alternative route home.

Detective Sergeant Michael Hamlet from the Met Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command said: “This case demonstrates the utterly devastating effects knives can have on London communities.

“Bilal, a much-loved son, grandson and brother, had his life tragically cut short and a schoolboy has been sentenced for his death.

“In addition, Majeed will spend a significant amount of time behind bars and will have to think about the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.”