Two killers were convicted of stabbing Bermondsey’s Joshua Boadu to death and could face life sentences, after being found guilty of murder today (September 23) at the Old Bailey.
The court heard that Denilson Davis, 21, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named, knifed Joshua Boadu, 23, in the chest and sped away from the scene.
Davis drove a hired Peugot to the scene on June 11 last year, before pulling over and forcing SJ into a blind spot nearby, jurors were told.
Joshua – known affectionately as SJ and who had dreams of becoming an engineer – was then, the prosecution said, pushed up against a parked car, surrounded by three men, and stabbed.
SJ was next seen on CCTV footage obtained by police at 6.17pm – by which time he had been stabbed and was running towards Lucey Way.
He sought refuge in a nearby house on the street from where he was taken to King’s College Hospital by emergency services.
But after ten days on life support he was pronounced dead.
Davis was arrested at his home on Innes Street, Peckham on November 27. Police said he had denied any involvement but later admitted he was at the scene.
The court heard that the 16-year-old refused to answer police questions when he was arrested on 13 February but later insisted he had nothing to do with the killing.
Davis and the teenager were both convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury and will return for sentencing next Monday (September 30).
A third man, 19-year-old Matthew Adebiyi, is wanted by police in connection with the killing after he fled to Nigeria.
Earlier Jacob Hallam, QC, prosecuting, said the ‘terrible wounds’ were too much for Mr Boadu to survive and despite continued medical treatment at King’s College Hospital, he was declared brainstem dead on June 18 last year.
The court heard that while Joshua lay in his hospital bed, the youth and Adebiyi were filmed entertaining themselves at a recording studio in Peckham Rye.
Jurors were shown videos filmed on Adebiyi’s phone between 11.30pm and midnight on the night of the murder of ‘the pair brazenly celebrating’.
“Videos were found on Adebiyi’s mobile telephone which were recorded between 11.30 and midnight, capturing him and the youth together at a recording studio in the Peckham Rye area,” said Mr Hallam.
“Somebody was filming them, they were in a celebratory mood.”
Adebiyi fled to Nigeria and remains at large.
Mr Hallam added: “He has escaped, for a time being at least, being held to account for his actions that day.
“No doubt his time will come.”
Davis, of Montgomery Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, and the 16-year-old both denied murder but were convicted at the Old Bailey.
The pair will be sentenced at the same court next Monday (September 30).