Police have launched an appeal to help find a man linked to the ‘senseless’ murder of Bermondsey man Joshua Boadu, two years on from the killing.
The popular 23-year-old – widely known as SJ – was stabbed by attackers on Bermondsey’s Linsey Street in June 2018.
No motive was ever found for the broad daylight stabbing, which caused Joshua’s death eleven days later in King’s College Hospital.
But while two men, Denilson Davis, 21, and a sixteen-year-old who cannot be named, were sentenced to life at the Old Bailey last year, a third man linked to the murder, Matthew Adebiyi, is still being sought by police.
Prosecutors told a court last year that Adebiyi had “run away” to Nigeria to avoid “being held to account for his actions on that day.”
The prosecution also alleged that videos on the-then nineteen-year-old’s phone showed him in a “celebratory mood” in a recording studio in Peckham, hours after Joshua’s stabbing on June 11.
Now two years on, police say they do not know where Adebiyi is. “Matthew Adebiyi, whose current whereabouts are unknown, is sought in connection with the murder,” said Scotland Yard.
The investigating officer, DCI Mick Norman, urged anyone with information about Adebiyi’s location to get in touch.
“I would appeal for anyone with knowledge of Matthew Adebiyi’s location or whereabouts to contact the incident room on 0208 721 4005,” he said.
“Or alternatively you can speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800555111 or use their online reporting service.”
Family of the 23-year-old murder victim, who dreamed of becoming an engineer, heartbreakingly revealed last year that ‘SJ’ had been excited for his first-ever family holiday to Canada – planned for the day after he was stabbed.
“Words cannot describe how the heartache and emotional anguish this senseless killing has caused and the impact on the family has been astronomical,” they said in a statement in September.
“Josh had his whole life ahead of him and he was full of so much untapped potential, but his life was cut short due to a vicious and senseless murder.
“Things will never be the same for us and we have to live with this for the rest of our lives.”
Convicted killers Denilson Davis and the unnamed sixteen-year-old are currently serving a minimum 21 years and fifteen years behind bars respectively.