A pair of 14 year-old boys have been convicted of murder after fatally stabbing a university student in a case of mistaken identity.
Hussein Ahmed, aged 19 was murdered on a busy street near South Harrow tube station in November 2016.
The boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stabbed Hussein in the back with what a witness describes as a large eight or nine inch 'Rambo' or combat style hunting knife.
The 14-year-olds were also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent and attempted GBH on two other 18-year-olds youths.
Police believe the boys were gang members who had been tipped off about the location of a rival gang member they were trying to track down. Police described this as a "call to arms".
The boys took a cab from the Grahame Park Estate in Hendon, telling the driver to stop at Eastcote Road just after 5pm and wait.
They headed in the direction of Northolt Road, and later slashed two 18-year-olds with knives in Parkfield Road.
Hussein, who was riding his bike down Northolt Road, headed towards the attackers. An eyewitness described seeing him have words with the attackers before walking way in order to avoid conflict.
Knife crime
Seconds later he witnessed Hussein being stabbed in the back at around 5.10 pm on November 18 outside Kebabish takeaway shop in Northolt Road.
He collapsed there, fatally wounded, and was rushed to hospital but was taken off life-support on November 21.
The attackers went back to the mini cab and told the driver to take them back to Hendon. The driver testified to hearing them laugh and joke on the seven-mile journey back.
He also found a purple latex glove in the car, which matched the one worn by one of the murderers in CCTV footage at the time of the assault.
The main suspects in the investigations all dumped their mobile phones soon after the attack. While one of the boys was arrested on November 21, the other turned himself in on November 27.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with the same offences but cleared of them all.
The pair were convicted at the Old Bailey on Monday (June 19).
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