Pharrell Garcia left to die on a London street as people ‘walked on by’

A jealous schoolboy is facing jail after he stabbed a teenage love rival and left him to die in the street as members of the public ‘walked on by.’

Pharrell Garcia, 15, was knifed in the heart with his own pocket knife in a park near Stellman Close in Stoke Newington, north London at about 4pm on 23 July last year.

The 16-year-old killer claimed Pharrell was armed with the ‘multi-tool’ knife and he acted in self-defence.

He said: ‘I had no intention to kill him or do serious harm – only to save my own life.’

But clips recovered from Pharrell’s phone showed him carrying the knife that day.

He has a previous conviction for possession of a machete.

The 16-year-old, from east London, denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, the jury could not reach a verdict on murder.

Jurors found the 16-year-old guilty of manslaughter after 15 hours and 39 minutes of deliberation..

They were discharged from reaching a verdict and the prosecution will not seek a retrial.

He had a previous conviction for possession of a machete in April last year.

The two boys knew each other and the attack may have been motivated by jealousy as they were both messaging the same girl, the Old Bailey heard.

Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls, KC, earlier told jurors: ‘You will immediately appreciate that the death of a child is a deeply traumatic event with devastating consequences for those involved.

‘The needless death of teenage boys on our streets because of knife crime troubles us all.

‘Knife crime in London is all too prevalent, you will know about reports you have heard, read or seen on television.

‘It’s a tragedy and we wish it did not exist. But it does.

‘In this case the defendant admits stabbing Pharrell Garcia. He says he did so in self-defence. The prosecution rejects this as a self-serving lie.

‘The defendant used a knife that Pharrell had been carrying. It was a pocket knife.

‘In circumstances only the defendant knows he came into possession of the knife and stabbed him in the heart.

‘Every one of you will know the death of a child is deeply traumatic for everybody concerned. It will have devastating consequences.

‘It is important everyone in court acknowledges those devastating consequences before putting them to one side.

‘There came a point where the defendant had Pharrell’s knife in his hand and even if there had been some kind of threat, there wasn’t now, and he stabbed Pharrell in the heart.

‘He ended up that evening with a friend of his mothers and ends up going to a police station to hand himself in.

‘But he doesn’t tell anyone at that stage what he’s done, and he’s not wanted on the police computer system.

‘So he leaves. And he’s not arrested until the next morning.’

Pharrell and the defendant had been messaging the same girl before the incident.

‘You may end up concluding that jealously had something to do with what the defendant did that afternoon.’

He said there had been an argument in the days before the stabbing.

Jurors were shown CCTV of Pharrell and the defendant arriving at the park together.

Footage also showed members of the public walking past Pharrell after he had been stabbed.

Mr Fenhalls said: ‘There are always good Samaritans but there are sadly other people who would walk on by.

‘Whatever you think of those who walk on by it doesn’t matter.

‘You will see sometimes the best of people sometimes the worst.

‘Some members of the of public did seek to assist, medics attended and they did everything they could.’

Pharrell and the defendant had been messaging the same girl before the killing.

The girl told police she had heard Pharrell threatening to beat the defendant up.

She said the defendant called her and said ‘I’m fighting Pharell today.’

He told her and said he was going to fight Pharrell that day.

She said:’I was like, well there’s no point bringing a knife and there’s no point doing anything to him. And he was like yeah and I was like okay whatever.

‘And then by that time the conversation was done. I got to my Nan’s and I got to go inside and I don’t want to walk on the phone so I was like I gotta go. And he was like okay.

‘Then I’m at Nando’s with my nan and then [the defendant] calls me and he’s like I think I just killed Pharrell. And I was like don’t lie because I didn’t believe it. Like I was pretty shocked.

‘He was like I think I just killed Pharrell. I stabbed him in the heart by accident, but I was meant to stab his leg. I was like what?’

The defendant went to Tottenham police station on the night of the attack to hand himself in but they would not let him because he refused to say what he had done.

Police checked the computer systems but the 16-year-old was not wanted so he was sent home.

Police returned to arrest him at 5am the next morning.

In a prepared statement given to police the defendant said: ‘I knew the victim from school and we used to be friends but fell out and he had always harboured a grudge towards me.

‘He was obsessed with gangs and knives and I have video footage on my phone of him threatening “to shank me”.

‘He approached me on Tuesday and told me, again, he had a problem with me.

‘He pulled a knife out of his sock and went to attack me. I was scared for my life and acted instinctively to defend myself.

‘He is bigger and heavier build than me and I have a broken hand in cast that needs more surgery.

‘I managed to get the knife off of him and struck him just once. I was terrified I was going to die and acted in self defence to stop him.

‘I had no intention to kill him or do serious harm – only to save my own life.’

He said the ‘multi-tool’ knife was brought by Pharrell to the scene and he did not bring any weapons to the scene.

The defendant could be seen on CCTV chasing Pharrell after he had been stabbed until he saw him collapse, Mr Fenhalls said.

‘If there was a shred of truth that he was acting in self-defence and he saw his friend collapse on the floor – do you think that is consistent with his actions – his callous making off?’

The 16-year-old denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

Judge Philip Katz has ordered a pre-sentence report on the teenager who will be sentenced on April 17.