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James Sturcke and agencies
Thursday July 26, 2007
A teenager has been sentenced to at least 13 years in prison for the murder of the promising young footballer Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed to death outside his school gates.
Hannad Hasan, 17, a Somalian refugee, was given a life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday for the 15-year-old's murder in May last year. He would be recommended for deportation on release from prison, the judge said.
Kiyan, who played for the youth team of Queens' Park Rangers, was stabbed through the heart when he intervened in a play fight outside the London Academy in Edgware, north-west London.
Hasan, who lived with his mother in Colindale, north London, grabbed Kiyan in a headlock, stabbing him in the heart, stomach and arm with a penknife he later described as "a little toy".
The youth had admitted the manslaughter of Kiyan, described as one of the "brightest talents" on the QPR youth team, but was convicted of murder earlier this month at the Old Bailey.
Today he stood in the dock with his head bowed as the judge, Paul Worsley, told him he had shown little genuine remorse for killing the popular schoolboy.
"This is yet another case of a wholly unprovoked stabbing in a public place, by a person who produced a knife and plunged it into the heart of their unarmed victim," the judge said.
"Taking the life of another is always a terrible thing; taking the life of a talented, popular 15-year-old schoolboy who was known to you and who had done you no wrong and had everything to live for defies description.
"You have deprived his family and schoolfriends of a role model."
The judge described victim statements from Kiyan's parents, which were read out in court, as a moving tribute to "the bright star in their lives".
It was the third time the youth had gone on trial for the murder. In the original trial the jury could not agree on a verdict, and a second trial collapsed in December last year after Kiyan's distraught father approached a juror on her way home.
After his arrest, Hasan told police that he hoped Kiyan's mother could forgive him. He said: "I am terribly sorry. I know how my mum would feel."
He told police he had only intended to give Kiyan "just a little scratch" with the knife. He added: "I did not want to stick it in him. I did not want to kill him. I am thinking this is like a dream."
After the jury's verdict earlier this month, Kiyan's family released a statement saying: "Kiyan's life being taken from us in this cruel way has done irreparable damage to our family. I would like to thank the jury for their wisdom and doing their part in bringing Kiyan's murderer to justice.
"Knife crime will continue to rise in numbers unless the government begins to take this knife culture seriously by coming down hard on potential murderers, because that's what a person carrying a knife is, and until then hard-working people with close families will continue to suffer."
Source
Thursday July 26, 2007
A teenager has been sentenced to at least 13 years in prison for the murder of the promising young footballer Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed to death outside his school gates.
Hannad Hasan, 17, a Somalian refugee, was given a life sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday for the 15-year-old's murder in May last year. He would be recommended for deportation on release from prison, the judge said.
Kiyan, who played for the youth team of Queens' Park Rangers, was stabbed through the heart when he intervened in a play fight outside the London Academy in Edgware, north-west London.
Hasan, who lived with his mother in Colindale, north London, grabbed Kiyan in a headlock, stabbing him in the heart, stomach and arm with a penknife he later described as "a little toy".
The youth had admitted the manslaughter of Kiyan, described as one of the "brightest talents" on the QPR youth team, but was convicted of murder earlier this month at the Old Bailey.
Today he stood in the dock with his head bowed as the judge, Paul Worsley, told him he had shown little genuine remorse for killing the popular schoolboy.
"This is yet another case of a wholly unprovoked stabbing in a public place, by a person who produced a knife and plunged it into the heart of their unarmed victim," the judge said.
"Taking the life of another is always a terrible thing; taking the life of a talented, popular 15-year-old schoolboy who was known to you and who had done you no wrong and had everything to live for defies description.
"You have deprived his family and schoolfriends of a role model."
The judge described victim statements from Kiyan's parents, which were read out in court, as a moving tribute to "the bright star in their lives".
It was the third time the youth had gone on trial for the murder. In the original trial the jury could not agree on a verdict, and a second trial collapsed in December last year after Kiyan's distraught father approached a juror on her way home.
After his arrest, Hasan told police that he hoped Kiyan's mother could forgive him. He said: "I am terribly sorry. I know how my mum would feel."
He told police he had only intended to give Kiyan "just a little scratch" with the knife. He added: "I did not want to stick it in him. I did not want to kill him. I am thinking this is like a dream."
After the jury's verdict earlier this month, Kiyan's family released a statement saying: "Kiyan's life being taken from us in this cruel way has done irreparable damage to our family. I would like to thank the jury for their wisdom and doing their part in bringing Kiyan's murderer to justice.
"Knife crime will continue to rise in numbers unless the government begins to take this knife culture seriously by coming down hard on potential murderers, because that's what a person carrying a knife is, and until then hard-working people with close families will continue to suffer."
Source
