Judge slams ‘cancer that is gang culture and knife crime’ as killer gets 22 years

A killer who stabbed a 15-year-old boy to death was jailed for at least 22 years a judge who slammed ‘the cancer that is gang culture and knife crime.’

Joseph Marafini was murdered outside Sainsbury’s in Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, shortly before 5pm, on 29 October last year as a police van drove by.

Imran Boudjellel, 20, of Peasbody Hill, Norwood, southeast London, confronted Joseph and stabbed him in the chest and neck with a 26cm knife.

Boudjellel denied murder but a Kingston Crown Court jury convicted him of the charge after a four-week trial.

Judge John Lodge, QC, told him: ‘The events of the 29th of October are tragically typical of the cancer that is gang culture and knife crime.

‘It is sadly obvious that Joseph Marafini and the two boys with whom he was with were on the streets because they had been made aware of your presence.

‘There is not a shred of evidence that any of them were armed.

‘You were not acting in self-defence, you had not lost your self-control, it was a deliberate attack with intent to cause, at the very least, very serious harm.

‘It was a fatal wound.

‘You were 19 when you committed these offences.

‘Your home life was difficult.

‘You were the subject of bullying and threats as at that stage you were unwilling to take part in gang culture.

‘By 2019 you demonstrated that you were willing to embrace a knife culture.’

The judge had earlier directed the jury to find four teenage co-defendants not guilty of murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

A police carrier happened to be driving by at the time of the killing and officers jumped out to Boudjellel and try and save Joseph’s life.

Boudjellel was seen to throw the bloodied knife over a wall as he was chased into the Garratt Lane Burial Ground.

Joseph died that afternoon in St George’s hospital, despite the best efforts of medical staff, jurors heard.

DNA analysis showed the blood on the knife matched Joseph’s blood, jurors heard.

A second 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named, was stabbed in the arm and was taken to hospital after police found him rolling on the floor in agony.

He was treated at St George’s hospital for two days before being discharged, jurors heard.

Natalie Marafini, Joseph’s mother fought back the tears as she told the court in an impact statement: ‘He wanted to learn to drive, to visit America, to see the world, to make something of his life.

‘Samuel [his brother] leaves the back window open always for Joseph to come home.

‘I have become a shadow of my former self, longing for the day to end but dreading sleep.’

Addressing Boudjellel directly she said: ‘When you speak my son’s name you disgust me.

‘When I look at you in court you refuse to look at me because you and I know the truth.

‘What you did that day was pure evil.’

The mother of the second victim, said: ‘Every time my child leaves home I fear I will get that phone call…someone on the other end telling me he has been stabbed.’

Dean George, defending, said Boudjellel was in a particularly vulnerable position because of his mother’s mental illness.

‘He did show a level of remorse when he was in the witness box,’ Mr George added.

‘There was an outward, at least, emotional display by him and recognition of the impact.’

The court was previously shown CCTV footage of the group walking around Southside Shopping Centre, going into a JD Sports and eating in Five Guys shortly before the attack.

The police officers in the van just happened to be driving by as the attack began.

‘One of the officers, PC Latham was in the back of the van and she looked to her right where she saw a group of males a short distance away on the pavement outside Sainsbury’s,’ said prosecutor Philip Evans.

‘She describes seeing a person stood in the middle of a group with their right hand raised above their head.

‘That person was of slim build and noticeably taller than most in the crowed.

‘In their hand they had something about eight inches in length, which appeared to the officer to be a knife. She was about 10 metres away from what she described.

‘The officer shouted out to the other officers in the carrier, “knife, someone is being stabbed” and she saw the male bring his right arm down in a quick motion.

‘Another officer from the carrier, PC Jonathan Miotti describes how he was sitting on the offside of the police carrier two rows back from the driver on a single seat by the window.

‘He was therefore on the side of the carrier closest to the incident with Sainsbury’s to his right.

‘He was looking at what was happening outside Sainsbury’s when he noticed a glint from what he believed to be a bladed weapon being waved above the head of a male standing on the pavement.’

The court heard the officer saw the male ‘bring his right arm down in a quick slashing motion’.

‘He saw Joseph grab to his upper chest and neck area with both hands and step back before he slumped up against Sainsbury’s shop window.

‘He slid down the shop window leaving a trail of red blood until he was sitting on the pavement,’ said the prosecutor.

‘Bodyworn footage from PC Lancaster, another officer who was on board the carrier, shows how Joseph was backing away with both of his arms outstretched as Imran Boudjellel attacked him.’

Boudjellel ran off and was caught as he tried to climb a fence.

The wounded 15-year-old told police he did not know why he and his friend were attacked and said nothing was done to provoke the group.

Boudjellel denied but was convicted murder, wounding with intent, and having a bladed article in a public place.
ENDS