‘Unfriendly look’ killer gets 16 years

A teenager who killed a fellow college student who was protecting a friend in a row over an ‘unfriendly’ look has been jailed for life.

Tammuz Brown, 18, stabbed Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, with a ‘ferocious’ foot-long hunting knife near Clapham South Tube Station, southwest London.

The victim became the capital’s 116th murder victim last year after Brown pierced his heart with the blade on 2 November 2018.

The spat began with an incident at Malcolm’s school two days earlier between one of his friends and Brown.

College CCTV footage showed the pair walking side by side on the concourse outside after some ‘unfriendly eye contact’ and an exchange of words in the corridor.

By lunchtime on the day of the stabbing Brown was ‘looking for’ Malcolm’s friend, telling other pupils he had ‘threatened him with a knife’.

When their paths crossed after school outside a chicken shop close to the station Brown, accompanied by Treynae Campbell, 19, confronted Malcolm’s friend over the earlier spat, with Brown claiming he had been ‘dissed’ and inviting Malcolm around the corner to ‘sort it out’.

The young killer – who had a conviction for carrying a six-inch zombie knife months before the murder – took hold of the blade from Campbell and locked eyes with Malcolm’s friend, demanding: ‘Why were you looking at me?’

Seeing the knife, Malcolm stepped between them and punched the boy before deflecting an initial lunge with his forearm.

The victim then played the peacemaker, saying: ‘What are you doing? Are you going to stab me? [It’s] all over. It’s all been settled’.

After a second hit, Brown ‘jabbed the knife in a forward motion, pushing the knife into Malcolm’s chest’.

‘He pulled the knife out and it was covered in blood,’ said prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC.

The pair then fled across Clapham Common and threw the knife in a large bin as Malcolm ran towards a bicycle rack outside the station where he collapsed.

Brown was found guilty of murder and carrying a bladed article following a four-week trial at the Old Bailey, while Campbell, from Sydenham, southeast London, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter but will be sentenced after admitting to carrying the knife before the trial started.

Campbell had earlier admitted carrying the knife but he was cleared of murder and manslaughter.

The young knifeman claimed in a letter read to the court by Keith Monteith, defending, that he felt ‘upset and regretful’ that his brutality had ‘created so much pain for so many.’

Mr Monteith argued that Brown suffered from ADHD and childhood trauma and blamed his actions on ‘susceptibility’ to peer pressure from an ‘older, more experienced’ accomplice.

Malcolm’s father sobbed as he read a statement remembering his ‘bright, compassionate’ son at the Old Bailey.

Olumide Wole-Madariola said: ‘At first when I was told I would be able to speak my mind about this murder I knew exactly what I would say, but when I began to put pen to paper I got lost.

‘The colossal setback from the murder of my son Malcolm cannot be quantified in black and white.

‘My son Malcolm was stabbed to death on 2nd November 2018, on his way back from college.

‘My son Malcolm had an unrivalled record of excellence in his education.

‘His GCSE results were some of the best for that year.

‘His A-level results were the best in his Business Studies department.

‘Malcolm’s death has changed the course of everything in our family life.

‘I have suddenly been diagnosed with high blood pressure and angina.

‘I have been suffering from feelings of fearfulness, nervousness and sometimes panic especially when my family is faced with reminders of the event, concern about losing total control or not coping, worry that the situation may reoccur.

‘Intrusive thoughts of the traumatic incident always appear out of the blue.

‘My wife and daughter have had difficulties in getting to sleep, having vivid nightmares.

‘My wife suffers nightly from heart palpitations.

‘Her body shakes and she trembles most times and I have to take her to accident and emergency services.

‘It’s still a shock to us.

‘Aside from sadness, my wife feels irritation and started having poor concentrating and forgetfulness.

‘The emotional state of my family and I is pitiable now because we are an absolutely united family and the difficulties of running a household with three grieving children and wife is falling on me entirely.

‘[My second son] said to me, ‘Daddy, nothing really means anything anymore’.

‘Losing Malcolm it seems our life has ended and there is just no reason to live anymore.

‘Malcolm’s sister sometimes says how disinterested she is in life as it really means nothing to her anymore.

‘This calamity is unquantifiable.

‘[My daughter] has not been able to work since the murder and [my son] also.

‘These children started working at the age of 17.

‘Malcolm’s murder has not only stolen our peace but stalled our source of income.

‘We have all become a shadow of ourselves.

‘With losing Malcolm it feels like there is practically no reason to live anymore.

‘Malcolm was bright, he was always a helping hand.

‘He was the phenomenal giver. A young man driven by compassion, faith, a fierce sense of justice and a heart full of love.

‘Malcolm thought very big. He dreamed very big. He believed big and walked big.

‘But his life was taken.

‘He would have ended up being an entrepreneur. He loved business.

‘He had vision, he was full of energy and wisdom.

‘As a family we will live to respect Malcolm forever and we will raise our head high as he was an inspiration.

‘We praised him for his educational excellence when alive but now we have cause to praise him more for his flawless character and benevolence.

‘His action was not only phenomenal but very noble. What a bravery. That heroism will be indelibly marked.

‘What he was known for as a child was what eventually took his life – his peacekeeping and standing up for others in need.

‘He died for what he lived for.

‘Malcolm’s life was wasted entirely.

‘In Malcolm’s death, we have lost our world.’

The defendant fought back tears as he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC, told him: ‘You were both 17 years old and pupils at sixth form college in Clapham.

‘On Wednesday 30th October 2018 there was an incident between you and another youth.

‘It could hardly be more trivial.

‘You passed him in a corridor and he thought you looked strangely at him and you thought he looked at you.

‘You say you felt insulted that it was a violation.

‘You felt yourself disrespected and you decided to exact revenge.

‘You phoned your friend and told him, I am satisfied from the CCTV evidence untruthfully, that [the youth] produced a knife and you asked for his help.

‘On Friday 2nd November Campbell attended college with a knife which was suspended between two pairs of trousers.

‘You set about trying to find [the youth] and further embellishing the minor incident that happened between you.

Ms Joseph said the pair then waited by a bus stop to catch the youth leaving school before violence erupted a knife was produced by Campbell.

‘It was a large Rambo style knife in a sheath.

‘Seeing [the knife] [the youth] began to walk off.

‘Something was said between you and Campbell and a witness described you whispering together.

‘One that was nearer heard you say something like ‘f*ck that, let me get that. I’m having it now and Campbell passed the sheath knife to you.

‘Malcolm, whose only interest was to make sure things didn’t get out of hand, moved towards you.

‘One witness described you holding the knife half-heartedly at your chest and heard you say ‘f*ck that I’m stabbing him now.’

‘Malcolm asked what are you doing? Are you going to stab me?

‘You replied, ‘you’re a nothing, don’t talk to me like that.’

‘Unwisely, fatally unwisely, Malcolm continued to move forward until you were face to face. He asked if you would stab [the youth] and you said yes.

‘He asked what the hell you were doing said it was already sorted out, you said I don’t care.

‘[Malcolm] suffered 3 wounds [including] the fatal one, 12-13 cm into the centre of his chest cutting through his heart from top to bottom.

‘You washed the blood from your hands. Hearing Malcolm was dead you tried to get a friend to message on Snapchat that it wasn’t you who did it and you gave your father your phone to get rid of. You stayed at home that weekend while police were searching for you.

‘You posted messages on social media trying to cast the blame elsewhere. Conversations between you and your friend show you were planning to leave the country, however on Monday you and your family went to police station.

‘I read a moving statement written by Malcolm’s father written on behalf of whole family.

‘It is clear that the harm done by the utterly senseless events of the 2nd November spread well beyond the irremediable loss of Malcolm’s life.

‘The effect of this loss on those who loved him is devastating. It has destroyed the physical and mental health of his parents and siblings who struggle to come to terms with their grief.

‘You had made a determination to attack someone else. It is patently clear you were pursuing Gabriel with a knife and any violence from Malcolm was to stop you.

‘You are not of clean character.

Brown, from Abbey Wood, southeast London, denied but was convicted of murder and carrying a blade.

Brown received a sentence of detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, effectively a life sentence, with a minimum term of 16 years.

ends