Shocking moment two teenage killers chase terrified rival, 23, around table tennis table then stab him to death in ‘merciless’ attack in youth centre
- Glendon Spence was stabbed to death at Marcus Lipton Youth Centre in Brixton
- Lost his footing as he ran around table tennis and was unable to fend off attack
- Rishon Florant convicted of murder and Chibuzo Ukonu guilty of manslaughter
- Florant, 17, and Ukono, 18, cornered Glendon before repeatedly stabbing him
Chilling CCTV has captured the moment two teenagers stabbed a man to death after chasing him around a youth club.
Glendon Spence, 23, was knifed in the thigh after he tripped over while trying to get away from his attackers at the Marcus Lipton Youth Centre in Brixton on 21 February.
Rishon Florant, 17, denied but was convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury while Chibuzo Ukonu, 18, was found guilty of manslaughter.
Harrowing footage shown to the court today showed how Mr Spence lost his footing as he ran around a tennis table and was left unable to fend off his attackers as they repeatedly stabbed him.
Rishon Florant, 17, denied but was convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury while Chibuzo Ukonu, 18, was found guilty of manslaughter
Glendon Spence, 23, and his friends sought refuge at the Marcus Lipton Youth Centre in Brixton, south London, when two hooded teenagers arrived armed with large knives and ran at them
CCTV shows the killers chase Glendon into the club before knifing him to death
Mr Glendon was pronounced dead at the scene at 7.30pm after sudden blood loss.
Judge Mark Dennis, QC, lifted restrictions previously protecting Florant’s anonymity and remanded the pair in custody ahead of sentence on 10 October.
Earlier prosecutor Julia Evans told jurors: ‘From the CCTV footage alone, there can be no doubt that on the evening of February 21 Glendon Spence was chased into the youth centre and there is no doubt that he was attacked there, that he was stabbed and as a result of those stab injuries he died.
‘He was the victim of a swift and merciless attack.’
Jonathan St Marie, who worked at the youth centre, was moved to tears when he told the court he saw two males armed with an 18 inch knives lunge towards Mr Spence.
He said Florant stepped towards Glendon and began ‘stabbing down at him.’
CCTV shows the pair running into the youth club in Brixton and targeting their victim
He told the court: ‘It began at the edge of the table. It appeared he tried to run around the table too quickly and just lost his footing.
‘He fell onto his side. He rolled over as if to get up at which point the assailant began thrusting at him. Glendon was on his back trying to use his feet to kick away at the knife that kept coming at him.’
Describing the weapons used in the attack Mr St-Marie added: ‘I believe [one knife] was around 12-18 inches long. It looked to be serrated on one edge.’
He said he saw the attackers lunge towards Mr Spence as he kicked out while trying to defend himself on the floor.
Mr St Marie called an ambulance and overheard a group of teenagers ‘talking excitedly’ about the stabbing, identifying Florant by his street name, ‘R1’.
They can be seen clearly, armed with 18inch knives as they prepare to attack
He added: ‘I heard one of them say something along the lines of, “I can’t believe it was him. He wasn’t wearing a bally (balaclava). I can’t believe he would do that.”‘
The two killers arrived at the scene in a BMW 5 Series which was later found torched on the Peabody Estate.
Florant was detained attempting to board a flight to Uganda from Heathrow Airport the following day, while Okunu got on a coach to Manchester.
Florant and Ukonu, from Loughton, Essex, both denied murder. Florant was convicted of murder while Ukonu was found guilty of the alternative of manslaughter.
They will be sentenced on 10 October.
Source: Read Full Article