A 16-year-old boy has been given life in prison for killing another teenager while they were trying to stop a fight outside McDonald‘s.
Ben Moncrieff was out with friends in Bath city center before he was killed on the street in the early hours of May 6.
The person who attacked, who was 15 years old and cannot be named because of the law, stabbed Mr. Moncrieff in the chest after he tried to stop a fight.
Despite everyone’s best efforts, including paramedics, he died at the scene on Southgate Street at about 3:30 in the morning.
At the Bristol Crown Court, they learned that Mr. Moncrieff and his friends had left a club and were on their way to McDonald’s when they came across a group of guys carrying balloons and suspected containers of nitrous oxide gas.
The security camera video showed the defendant arguing with one of Mr Moncrieff’s friends while using ‘laughing gas. ’
The jurors were told that Mr. Moncrieff stepped in to protect his friend, and one witness heard the defendant tell the victim to “come around the corner. ”
The person from south London dropped a gas can and then stabbed and killed Ben when he approached.
He ran away from the place and threw the knife in a nearby trash can. The police found the knife. He was taken by the police and didn’t say anything when they asked him questions.
Detectives started looking into a murder and watched many hours of video to find clues.
A video camera caught the person pulling up his shirt and showing a knife hidden in his pants before the attack.
Security cameras show what happened before Ben Moncrieff, who was trying to stop a fight, died.
Mark Cotter KC, who is arguing for the prosecution, said to the court: “The Crown believes that the defendant got into a fight with a friend of Mr. Moncrieff and Mr. Moncrieff tried to calm things down. ”
He was found guilty of killing someone after a six-day trial. He had admitted to having a knife in a public place.
Judge Peter Blair said that because of how much Mr. Moncrieff’s death has hurt his loved ones and the people of Bath, no punishment would be enough.
He said that the accused went out with a knife, but Mr. Moncrieff did not have anything in his hands.
Sharon Hendry, the mother of the victim, also spoke to the court in a personal and emotional statement.
She said, “Ben brought his friends to our home, and we all laughed and had a great time. Our home became a happy and lively place because of him. ”
She said she saw him getting ready to go out with his girlfriend, and then she rushed to his side after getting a call that he had been stabbed.
Sharon said: “I didn’t get to hold Ben and tell him how much I love him. ” I arrived too late to help Ben feel better. A mother’s biggest fear.
Ben’s room looks the same as when he left. I visit Ben’s room every day to remember the good times we had.
Ms Hendry talked about how she saw Ben in the mortuary and how it continues to affect her both physically and mentally. She said, “I feel completely destroyed and now have to live without Ben forever. “
Tag: south London
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16-year-old boy sentenced to life in prison for killing teenager who ‘tried to protect his friend’
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Policeman accused of murder after shooting victim C. S. Kaba in south London
A police officer in south London shot and killed Chris Kaba last year. The Crown Prosecution Service has charged the police officer with murder.
A person who was 24 years old got shot and died in Streatham Hill on September 5, 2022.
Rosemary Ainslie, who oversees the special crime division of the CPS, stated that after carefully examining the evidence presented by the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct), the CPS has given permission to charge a Metropolitan Police officer with murder in connection to the death of Chris Kaba.
The person in charge, who we can’t say the name of right now for legal reasons, is going to court on Thursday (September 21) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
We are thinking about Mr. Kaba’s family and everyone who has been affected by this very sad event.
‘It is crucial that the legal process for prosecuting criminals can continue. ‘
Mr Kaba was driving his car on Kirkstall Gardens when a police car with markings blocked his way. The two cars made contact with each other, as mentioned in court.
They think that the Audi he was driving was involved in a shooting that happened the day before.
A special marker was put on the car that can automatically recognize its number plate.
A police officer who is good at shooting, shot Mr. Kaba in the head through the car windshield.
After he died, many people in London held vigils and protested against how the police were treating Black people.
Chris was very loved by his family and friends, as his family said in a statement.
He had a promising future ahead of him, but he died young. We need to make sure that Chris gets justice in our family and our community.
We are happy about the decision to press charges, and we think it should have happened earlier.
We are waiting for the trial of the police officer who used a gun. We want it to happen quickly and hope that justice will be done.Anita Sharma, who is in charge of handling cases at INQUEST, said that families who have lost loved ones should be able to trust that police officers who cause harm will be punished as criminals. However, this doesn’t happen as often as it should.
Today, we are happy with the decision made by the Crown Prosecution Service.
We need to focus on the next steps of this legal case and move quickly. But we also need to closely examine what the officer did.
Chris, a Black man, was shot in the head by a police officer in the streets of London. Chris did not have any weapons.
‘His death has made people in our country and around the world upset and once again shown the racism and violence in the way police treat people. ’
Daniel Machover, a lawyer from Hickman & Rose, who is helping the family, said: ‘In the last year, Chris’s family have been very strong and brave as they have asked for information about how Chris died, and wanted fairness and punishment for him.
‘The decision to charge someone today gives a little hope that justice might happen for Chris, but the family still has to keep waiting for answers. ‘
Helen Millichap, who works for the Met, said: ‘We have completely supported the IOPC investigation as it has tried to find out the truth. ‘
Today’s announcement is very important and something that should be taken seriously. We have to let the court do its job, so I can’t say anything more right now.
We are thinking about everyone who has been affected by this situation. -
Girl, 13, discovered safe and sound after disappearing from a party
Police have reported that a 13-year-old girl from Barnsley who went missing after attending a house party in south London has been discovered safe and sound.
Concerned family members reported Carmelle Hepi missing after midnight on Sunday, June 24.
As a result of an urgent investigation that was started by police on Tuesday, three men, all in their 20s, were detained on suspicion of kidnapping.
While the other three have been released on bond pending additional investigations, one person is still in detention.
In an update, Lambeth borough police tweeted: ‘We’re delighted to say that 13-year-old Carmelle Hepi has been found safe and well.
‘This was a complex and fast-paced inquiry by specialist detectives. We would like to thank everyone who supported our appeals.’
Detectives said they believed she travelled down to London from South Yorkshire by train on Saturday and attended a birthday party in Peckham that evening.
She was understood to have left with another group of people in a car at around 11pm and later attended addresses in Croydon, Lewisham, and Purfleet in Essex.
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William’s $3 million plan to eradicate homelessness in five years
The Prince of Wales has started a large-scale initiative with the goal of putting an end to homelessness in five years.
With the Homewards project, Prince William intends to follow in the footsteps of Finland, where homelessness has been all but eliminated. The project will first concentrate on six places throughout the UK.
Businesses, organisations, and individuals will collaborate as part of the £3 million effort to create “tailor-made” action plans to address homelessness in their communities.
William already supports the homeless charities The Passage and Centrepoint. He began a two-day visit of the UK this morning in Lambeth, south London, to introduce the Homewards initiative.
It’s hoped with this project rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation become a thing of the past.
William said: ‘In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need.
‘Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate.
‘I am fortunate to have seen first-hand the tireless work of people and organisations across the sector, the tangible impact their efforts can have and what can be done when communities are able to focus on preventing homelessness, rather than managing it.
William has launched the Homeward project in Lambeth (Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images) ‘It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated and I am very much looking forward to working with our six locations to make our ambition a reality.’
Each of the six locations will be supported to deliver a housing project to ‘test new ways to unlock homes at scale’.
The locations were selected after a bidding process, and it’s hoped Homewards’ results will create models which can be adopted by other parts of the UK.
Matt Downie, chief executive of charity Crisis, says there are around 300,000 people experiencing homelessness in the UK on any given night.
He said factors ‘pushing’ people into homelessness include a ‘severe shortage of genuinely affordable homes’, rising rents, the increasing cost of living, low wages, and insecure work, adding that people are unable to cope with ‘sudden economic shocks’ and the welfare system is ‘unable to support people’.
Matt added: ‘Homelessness is not inevitable, as a provider of services to thousands of people across Britain every year.
Prince William announced Homewards alongside (L-R) Tyrone Mings, Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Gail Porter and David Duke (Picture: Andrew Parsons/Kensington Palace via Getty Images) ‘We know that in most cases it’s preventable, and in every case it can be ended.
‘The best way to tackle homelessness is to stop it happening in the first place.
‘We’ve seen it in other countries such as Finland, where homelessness is all but ended, and we’ve seen it when we follow innovative programmes that give people housing first.
‘We know we can do the same here with the right choices and by working together.
‘With levels of homelessness only set to increase innovative programmes like Homewards are more necessary than ever.’
William described his project as ‘an additive to what is already being done’ in a Sunday Times.
When asked if there were plans for affordable housing on Duchy of Cornwall land he inherited on becoming Prince of Wales, he said: ‘There is. Absolutely. Social housing. You’ll see that when it’s ready.’
A royal source said: ‘The prince believes that rather than continue to shine a light on the issue, that it’s time to take action.
‘And yes, he may be in the position he is in, but this isn’t about big gestures, this isn’t about a PR stunt.
‘This is about trying to deliver systemic change to the way that we as a society think about homelessness.’
Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, criticised the plans and called on the future king to ‘directly’ challenge the Government for, it claimed, causing homelessness.
Republic chief Graham Smith said: ‘Homelessness is the result of government policy and lack of investment, it isn’t something that can be resolved by charity or royal patronage.
‘It is also, in part, the result of economic inequality, something represented by the super-rich royals who live in multiple palatial homes.’
He highlighted the prince’s three homes: Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom property in Windsor Castle’s Home Park, Kensington Palace’s 20-room Apartment 1A and Anmer Hall, a mansion on the King’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
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Man denies shooting and killing a Met Police officer while on duty
The man accused of killing Metropolitan Police Sgt. Matiu Ratana in a gunfight in south London has entered a not-guilty plea.
During a plea hearing at Northampton Crown Court, Louis De Zoysa, of Banstead, Surrey, denied killing Sgt. Ratana.
On September 25, 2020, Sgt. Ratana, 54, passed away from gunshot wounds at the Croydon Detention Center in South London.
De Zoysa, who was accompanied by an intermediary and was shown on video-link in a wheelchair with his right arm in a sling, entered his plea by holding up a whiteboard with the words “not guilty” scribbled on it.
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Police on the hunt for two teenage girls who vanished with a 2-year-old infant
Two teens who have gone missing from south London are being sought by police.
Both 14-year-olds Angel Holly and Shanai Bonaparte-Chambers, along with Shanai’s 2-year-old sister, were last seen yesterday at around 3.20 p.m. in Croydon’s Fir Tree Gardens.
The south London was returned to a Croydon house in the early hours of this morning, and police reported that she is safe and well.
Police are still looking for the two teenagers.
Shanai Bonaparte-Chambers has been missing since yesterday (Picture: Met Police) Latest London news
Shanai has blonde hair and was last seen wearing a black tracksuit. Angel has two nose piercings and was wearing a Superdry jacket when she was last seen.
The pair have links to the Beckenham and Penge areas.
