Four Teens Found Guilty of Murder in Tragic Stabbing Incident
Four teens have been found guilty of murder after they accidentally stabbed their friend whilst they slaughtered another boy in the street.
Alagie Jobe, 19, Hussain Bah, 19, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old were all convicted of two counts of murder on Friday, January 26 after a trial at Inner London Crown Court.
Bah and Jobe will be sentenced at the same court on February 7. The other two defendants will be sentenced on February 23.
The victims, Charlie Bartolo and Kearne Solanke, were found fatally injured by knife wounds on November 26, 2022.
Charlie and two friends were riding motorbikes on Sewell Road at around 5pm when he was deliberately rammed by the car which came towards him, throwing him over the handlebars and into the air.
Kearne, Jobe and the 16-year-old defendant got out of the passenger side where Charlie had fallen and used large almost sword-like knives to stab him as he lay defenceless on the pavement.
During the attack, which lasted less than a minute, Charlie was stabbed eight times including in the head, penetrating his brain. The footage showed that each of the attackers used large knives to injure and lash out at Charlie.
Two people at the driver’s side did not physically engage in the attack but the driver was also found to have been armed with a knife.
Kearne was to be one of the three individuals who left the car to assault Charlie but, in the chaos, Kearne had been accidentally stabbed by one of his friends.
When the trial began in November prosecutor William Emlyn Jones QC said: “During the violence, one of his own team in their joint attack on Charlie Bartolo, stabbed his own friend Kearne Solanke.
“There’s no reason to think he meant to stab Kearne, but in the confusion and the chaos of the moment – no doubt I’m afraid, in the excitement – his knife found the wrong target.”
Mr Emyln Jones said Charlie’s “brutal” killing was motivated by a “post-code rivalry” between Abbey Wood and Thamesmead. “As [the 17-year-old defendant] told the police, he had a problem – he didn’t use the word problem, he said he had a beef – with Abbey Wood.
That, I’m afraid to tell you, is the depressingly petty reason for these two young men losing their lives,” Mr Emyln Jones said.
CCTV footage shows that when Jobe and the 16-year-old defendant moved back to the car Kearne continued the assault, Mr Emyln Jones said.
As Kearne turned to head back to the car himself he appears to drop his knife.
He stumbled and fell as he went to pick it up, the court heard.
When Kearne gets back to his feet he goes to return to the car but as he does the 16-year-old defendant opens the door.
“[The 16-year-old defendant] hasn’t had enough, as it turns out.
He goes back and stabs Charlie on the ground once or twice more,” Mr Emyln Jones said. But as the 16-year-old gets out the car, knife raised, he accidentally stabbed Kearne who was in his way, it is alleged.
Kearne then got back into the car with the rest of them and they all drove away leaving Charlie dying, the court heard.
“So what did they do? They drove back to safe territory and when they reached Titmuss Avenue, they abandoned the car and they abandoned Kearne – they left him bleeding, on the pavement, to death,” Mr Emyln Jones said.
They drove for a mile to Titmuss Avenue and then made the choice to abandon the car and Kearne behind to die on the pavement.
The prosecution case against all of the defendants is that they were all signed up to a joint plan to find and attack someone in Abbey Wood as they were from a rival gang in Thamesmead.
Investigators were able to identify individual roles of participant in the attack – Bah drove the group to the location, a 17-year-old member drove them away after the assault, and the rest, including Solanke, carried out the stabbing.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn said: “My team of detectives worked relentlessly to identify the group’s movements across South East London on the day of the murders.
“Even though some of the CCTV did not pick up their faces, my officers worked incredibly hard to identify them via their clothing including trousers and footwear.
“This was crucial in placing them together before and after the attack on Charlie.
“I am glad that all four defendants have been found guilty.
“It was an unusual case in that the murder of Kearne Solanke, was obviously not what the group had set out to achieve.
“However, we successfully proved that the group, in the course of their joint attack, intended to cause death or at least really serious injury and, one of their members was, sadly, an inadvertent victim of that.
“This case demonstrates the utter devastation caused by knife crime and people who arm themselves with large knives, not only risk killing those they see as enemies, but also people they consider their friends.
“My thoughts, and those of my team, remain with the families of both Charlie and Kearne.”
Family of Eight-Year-Old Victim Awaits Justice Amid Court Delays
The family of an eight-year-old boy who was killed by a dangerous driver in Plumstead face an anxious wait for justice after court delays.
Nicholas Hopkins, 20, drove his motorbike into little Mustafa Ahmed, his 10-year-old brother and their dad as they crossed the road.
Mustafa was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on Plumstead Road on February 19 last year.
In November, Hopkins pleaded guilty to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as driving whilst uninsured and possession of class B drugs.
On Friday (January 26) Hopkins was due to be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court.
But Mustafa’s grieving family were informed that the case would have to be adjourned at late notice because the prosecutor was not available.
Hopkins appeared in court via video link, with curly ginger hair and glasses.
Judge Freya Newbery told him: “For really unfortunate reasons the prosecutor has got stuck at the Old Bailey where she’s involved in a very serious sentencing there.
“She was unable to be released to come to this court. As a result she wouldn’t be able to be here until 3pm or 3.30pm, so I do have to put the sentence back to another day.”
Judge Newbery added: “I know that this will be very disappointing for you, Mr Hopkins, but also for your victims who are waiting anxious for the sentence to take place.”
The sentence will instead take place next Friday (February 2).
Nicholas Hopkins (Image: Met Police)Mustafa was on his way to the mosque in Plumstead on the evening of Sunday, February 19 last year.
While he was crossing the road with his family, Hopkins crashed into them on his motorbike.
Mustafa was later pronounced dead at the scene while his dad was left in a coma for two months.
Detective Sergeant Sam Miles, from the Roads and Transport Policing Command, previously said: “Our thoughts remain with Mustafa’s family – who continue to struggle with the events of that day – as well as the officers and paramedics who were first on scene.
“This is truly a tragic case, caused by the defendants reckless and dangerous driving. Mustafa was only eight years old, and had the rest of his life ahead of him.”
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