Boys 'laughed and joked' after fatally stabbing teenager in street outside party

Murder aggravated by 'sustained and ferocious attack' while victim was running away, judge says

A group of 17-year-old boys who were seen ”laughing and joking” after repeatedly and fatally stabbing another teenager have been jailed.

Lewis Blackman, 19, was stabbed 13 times after being chased from party he had gatecrashed in Kensington, west London last February.

Following trials at London's Old Bailey, Demario Williams, who played a “pivotal role” in the killing was jailed for at least 20 years for murder.

Lawrence Nkunku-Linongi, who had a previous conviction for carrying a “Rambo-style knife”, and Paul Glasgow, were handed minimum terms of 18 years for the same crime.

Thierry Edusei, who had been on bail on suspicion of violent offences at the time, was handed 11 years for manslaughter.

The court had heard that Mr Blackman arrived uninvited at the party, which was being held at a flat rented for the occasion from Airbnb, after invitations were circulated on social media, particularly Snapchat.

The birthday girl hoped about 50 people her age would attend her party.

She was cautious to only invite guests from Hackney, east London, and avoid boys from Camden because of “history” between the groups from those areas, the court heard.

Lewis Blackman, 17, was stabbed 13 times after being chased from a flat in Kensington (Metropolitan Police/PA)

But Mr Blackman was among 10 people from the north London borough who turned up.

He was armed with a knife and his friend had a firearm when they attempted to force their way into the party, the court heard.

CCTV cameras caught a larger group of party-goers, some also armed with knives, chasing Mr Blackman along the residential streets of Earls Court before they caught and stabbed him repeatedly.

Mr Blackman died at the scene, suffering multiple stab wounds, including two to the chest.

From left to right from the top: Demario Williams, Lawrence Nkunku-Linongi, Thierry Edusei and Paul Glasgow, all 17, who have were jailed for their part in the for the ‘ferocious’ killing of Mr Blackman (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Jurors were told the group’s “crazed expressions” had been replaced by a “triumphant swagger” as they returned to the flat where the party was being held, “visibly excited”.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC lifted reporting restrictions on the defendant’s identities as he sentenced them.

He told the four boys: “Whilst it has to be accepted Lewis Blackman was himself acting aggressively that night, he did not deserve to die. His mother described him as a fun, popular and compassionate person, good at sports and loved his music. It’s hard to comprehend the savagery, so plain to see in the CCTV footage, that was meted out by 16-year-olds.”

He added that the murder was aggravated by the fact it was a “sustained and ferocious attack” while the victim was running away.

Speaking after the verdict, investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: “There is no excuse for the violence that Lewis Blackman was subjected to. The group who attacked him, all of them teenage boys, acted with almost unimaginable ferocity by inflicting 14 stab wounds. To then be captured laughing and joking to themselves in apparent triumph as another young man lay bleeding to death is beyond comprehension.

“Now four young men will spend some of the best and most promising years of their lives in prison when they could have been doing something positive and productive. Lewis’ family have been left grieving for the loss of a young life taken far too soon.”

Additional reporting by Press Association