A fifteen-year-old boy accused of murdering aspiring rapper Leoandro Osemeke in Peckham has told a jury he was acting in self-defence.
Mr Osemeke (aka Showkey) died lying on the pavement in Colegrove Road, SE15, after he was stabbed at the house party.
The Old Bailey heard on January 25 that the defendant struck sixteen-year-old Mr Osemeke twice with a “Rambo-style” knife, as he walked into the house with over 100 people inside.
The young defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he killed Mr Osemeke because the rapper was “a bully” and was about to stab him.
“I walked from the living room into the hallway and Showkey was standing there,” he told the jury.
“I could see he had a knife – it was big and black. He removed it from its sheath and was holding it diagonally towards me.
“I wasn’t focused on anything else except his knife – I thought he was going to kill me.
“There were lots of other people in the hallway. I ran into the kitchen so I could grab a knife and arm myself.
“I found a kitchen knife and went towards him holding it above my head. I didn’t feel the knife contact Showkey’s body when I stabbed him.
“He stumbled backwards towards the door – it all happened in about ten seconds.”
Denying the charge of murder, the teenager insisted: “I didn’t intend to kill him or cause him serious harm, I just wanted him to go away – I didn’t want anything bad to happen. I thought he was going to stab me.
“After, I ran towards the back garden – I was just shocked.
“I ran to my aunt’s house – I must have dropped the knife. I don’t know if I threw it or if it fell out of my pocket.”
The jury was previously addressed by prosecuting barrister Lisa Wilding, who said the defendant “stabbed him deliberately twice”.
“Those two blows were deliberate, and with force, and into the chest area. One of them pierced his heart,” Ms Wilding said.
The court also heard that Mr Osemeke was allegedly a member of the ‘814’ gang who, it was claimed, sell drugs in the SE14 area of Lewisham.
The trial continues.