A teenager who knifed a schoolboy to death at a girl’s 16th birthday party in Harrow which was advertised on Instgram has been warned he faces jail time.
Nineteen-year-old Walker Sesay was one of seven people to be found not guilty of the murder of Che Labastide-Wellington, 17, who was stabbed through the heart as he tried to escape a "small army" of youths who turned up outside the gathering, on November 8 last year.
However, Sesay was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (November 9), and told he is likely to face a custodial sentence.
Che died from injuries sustained at the party. Paramedics performed open-heart surgery on the youngster at the side of the road, but he was pronounced dead at the scene less than an hour later.
Other men were also convicted of offences in relation to the matter. Calvin Tudor, 22, Marlon Tudor, 23 and Rimmel Williams, 18, were convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against the 16-year-old, while Omar Afrah, 22, and Olamilekan Onafowokan, 23, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.
The birthday girl’s mother had banned booze, drugs, and cigarettes from the party in Belvedere Way and insisted everyone on the tightly-controlled guest list was searched before they came in.
But her daughter had posted a flyer on Instagram advertising the bash and trouble flared up when scores of gatecrashers tried to get in.
Sesay, from Rawlings Crescent, Wembley , was one of seven men summoned to the party to deal with gatecrashers, but stabbed Che in the chest as violence erupted, the Old Bailey heard.
During the trial, prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC, said the birthday girl’s mother had taken great care and precautions planning the party.
“Everyone who came to the party had to know the girl personally, everyone who came through the door had to agree to be searched by the mother and her friends and relatives of hers who had offered to held,” he said.
“All the same it ended in disaster. Che Labastide-Wellington, a 17-year-old boy, was stabbed to death, his friend, aged 16, was stabbed several times and ended up having a blood transfusion.”
The 16-year-old party host told her mother shortly before the party started that she would post a flyer in social media platform Instagram, but assured her that it would cause no problems.
Mr Aylett said: “Nonetheless, the fact that the party was on Instagram did mean that other people found out about it.”
He continued: “The prosecution allege that the defendants’ group split into two in order to surround those who were outside the party.
“It would seem that Che must have been stabbed as he ran towards the defendants’ group – he was stabbed full-on in the chest.
“Although he was able to break through the group and run into an alleyway with his friend, he soon collapsed, face down on the ground.”
Jurors heard that his 16-year-old friend desperately banged on the door of a house in the street as he fled the group.
Although the owners let him in, a number of his attackers forced their way through the door.
He suffered numerous stab wounds to the arms and legs as he curled up to try and protect his chest.
The group fled when someone yelled "Police!"
The defendants were tracked down in the weeks after the attack through a combination of CCTV evidence and mobile phone data, the court heard.
Mr Aylett said: “Each of them has denied either having been armed himself or having known that anyone else was armed.
“Each of them has denied having been responsible for the fatal injury to Che Labastide-Wellington or the injuries to the 16-year-old."
The jury cleared Sesay and six co-defendents - Calvin Tudor , of Kelly Close, Neasden , Marlon Tudor, of no fixed address, Rimmel Williams, of Churchill Road, Willsden Green, Omar Afrah, of Walton Avenue, Wembley , Ibrahim Mansaray, of Cotton Avenue, Acton , and Ola Onafowokan, of Page Avenue on the Chalk Hill Estate in Wembley - of murder after deliberating for 42 hours and 24 minutes
Mr Mansaray, 18, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, walked free after they were acquitted of all of the charges they faced.
Judge Stephen Kramer, QC, adjourned sentence until December 6 and told the guilty men: “Be under no illusion in each of your cases, there is a 99.99% certainty there will be a custodial sentence.”
The convicted men were remanded in custody.
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