A teenager has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of murdering a 16-year-old boy during a gang robbery in Haringey.
In November 2022, the jury at the Old Bailey heard how Stelios Averkiou, 16, was stabbed in the leg when he stood up to the defendants who were attempting to rob his group of friends while they were sitting on a bench in Lordship Lane Recreation Ground in the summer of 2021.
Kyi-Reice Sylvester, 18, of Flamstead End Road, Cheshunt, was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison on Friday, January 20, with a further four years to be served concurrently, after pleading guilty to four separate counts of burglary.
Leon Gruber, 18, of Amersham Avenue, N18, was found not guilty of murder. He had previously pleaded guilty to four separate counts of robbery and was sentenced to 34 months in prison at the same hearing.
During the trial, the court heard that on August 1, 2021, around 14:00, Stelios, 16, was sitting on a bench at Lordship Lane Recreation Ground with two friends when Sylvester and Gruber approached them and, after asking if they were from a rival gang, began robbing them.
Sylvester, armed with a large knife, stabbed Stelios in the thigh after he resisted.
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) was dispatched to reports of a stabbing at the recreation ground at 14:09. LAS called police, and officers arrived first to find Stelios on the ground, bleeding heavily from an upper leg wound about eight inches long and four inches wide.
Officers cut away his clothes and applied a tourniquet to his leg due to the massive blood loss. When London’s Air Ambulance arrived, they performed emergency surgery on Stelios on the spot in an attempt to save his life.
Initially, the efforts were successful, and Stelios made it to the hospital for treatment.
Detectives from the Met’s North Area Command launched an investigation and examined CCTV footage that showed the suspects walking toward and then away from the scene after the stabbing. Gruber was seen fleeing the scene on a bike belonging to one of Stelios’s friends in the footage.
Sylvester was quickly identified as a suspect, and officers discovered that he had recently been arrested with Gruber for a number of knife-point robberies, and that Gruber had been reported missing on the day of the attack on Stelios.
Sylvester appeared at Wood Green Police Station on August 5, 2021. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and responded ‘no comment’ to all questions in an interview.
On August 7, 2021, Gruber was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and gave a no-comment interview. They were released on bail and ordered to return in early September.
Stelios, on the other hand, died in hospital on August 10, 2021. He’d never recovered consciousness.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Rawlinson of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command led the homicide investigation.
On September 1, 2021, Sylvester and Gruber were both arrested again on suspicion of murder.
Officers traced the movements of both defendants’ mobile phones before and after the attack as part of the investigation. Both defendants were at the scene of the robbery and stabbing, according to phone data.
“Tragically, another young life has been cut short by people carrying knives,” Detective Chief Inspector Neil Rawlinson said.
Stelios’ family has been through hell, beginning with the attack and continuing with his hospitalisation, death, and trial.
“It is my sincere hope that his loved ones find a measure of comfort in this sentencing. “I’m thinking of them.” I’d like to express my gratitude to the members of the public who came forward to assist us with this investigation. We understand how frightening it must be to witness such an incident, but the public’s assistance is critical to keeping our communities safe, and we have special measures in place to protect the brave people who come forward.”
“My family has been ripped apart by an act of senseless violence,” Stelios’ mother, Maria Averkiou, said. Stelios was acting perfectly normal. He was a 16-year-old boy in a park with his friends. I have no idea how one person could do such a thing to another. “Our hearts are shattered.”
I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Stelios Averkiou,” said Detective Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh of the North Area Command Unit, which covers Haringey. This was a completely irrational killing. Knife crime is a priority for the Met, which is why we are working tirelessly with our partners to bring those who carry knives on our streets to justice.”
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