A group of 17 students have now all been jailed for a total of more than 140 years between them for the brutal murder of a Fulham schoolboy.
Sofyenn Belamouadden (pictured), a year 10 pupil at the former Henry Compton School, was chased and stabbed to death in front of horrified commuters at Victoria Underground station on March 25, 2010.
Junior Bayode, 19, of Streatham, was the final defendant to hear his fate last week after being convicted at an earlier trial last year. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 11 years for manslaughter and seven years for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to run concurrently.
Sofyen suffered wounds to his heart, lung and major blood vessels in a 12-second attack. It followed a pre-arranged clash between rivals at two schools. The teenagers arranged to come prepared with knives and samurai swords for the brutal killing.
Fifteen boys all aged under 18 and one female have already been convicted across four previous trials in what is believed to be the largest ever ‘joint enterprise’ murder in the UK.
Three were convicted of murder and conspiracy to cause GBH, four for manslaughter and conspiracy to cause GBH, two for conspiracy to cause GBH and violent disorder and seven for violent disorder. Three other youths were acquitted of all charges.
DCI John McFarlane, senior investigating officer, said: “The real tragedy is that a young boy with a promising future has lost his life, but all those drawn into the madness as they themselves called it, have also ruined their own prospects and devastated their families.
“I hope this case will act as a deterrent to others in the future to avoid getting themselves caught up in this type of situation - the only safe choice is not to get involved in the first place.”
