LEYTONSTONE: Man guilty of teenager's murder

1:45pm Tuesday 24th June 2008

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A MAN has today been found guilty of murdering a teenage Jehovah's Witness who worshipped in Leytonstone.

Chester Daudu, 21, of Plaistow, was found guilty of killing Stephen Boachie on New Year's Day, 2007.

Mr Boachie, 17, was stabbed shortly after 5.20am outside the Thatched House pub, in Ripple Road, Barking, and died from his injuries at the Royal London Hospital the next day.

The Old Bailey heard that a scuffle began between Mr Boachie and Daudu as they were leaving the pub following a late-night event.

Daudu then crossed the road to a BMW before returning to stab Mr Boachie through the chest.

Investigating officer Det Insp Tim Wilkinson said: "Daudu's reckless and violent actions resulted in the senseless killing of Stephen Boachie, a 17-year-old boy with his whole life ahead of him.

"Although it is not known why Daudu attacked Stephen, it was clear that he was armed with a blade and his intention to kill was formed in a matter of seconds.

"Today's verdict reinforces the message that carrying knives does have devastating consequences. Stephen's family have lost a much-loved son and our thoughts are with them today.

"I would like to thank the witnesses who assisted police in bringing this case to court. They were willing to confront the menace of knife crime and they deserve our thanks and admiration."

Daudu will be sentenced on July 17.

Stephen Boachie's father told the Old Bailey about the grief of losing his son.

Here is his impact statement:

"The pain and loss of our beloved Stephen is still with us as a family. A vacuum has been created in the family set up and we will have to cope with it for the rest of our lives.

"It is hard to accept that we brought Stephen over from Ghana to the United Kingdom to have a better education and a prosperous future, but all that has been dashed by the act of a murderer in this craze of knife carrying gangs.

"How many more lives will have to be sacrificed before people realise that killings never solve any human-related problems?

"We have been experiencing nightmares and sleepless nights and sometimes my family and I cannot get our heads around the fact that Stephen is gone and never coming back home.

"Stephen had his whole life ahead of him and even envisioned the prospect of going to university and making a career for himself. Sadly all this has been taken away from us. We feel sorely aggrieved by his untimely death.

"Ideally children are supposed to outlive their parents and to have to bury your own so young is just unbearable. Stephen was the live wire of the family.

"He was hardworking, always ready to help, dedicated to his schoolwork, household chores and Christian activities.

"Again, he made us laugh, he joked and trivialised the most serious arguments.

"His laughter and the sound of his voice will forever ring in our ears. We desperately miss him and cannot clearly see how we can get out of this loss at this moment in time.

"We would like to take the opportunity to express our profound thanks and appreciation to all our friends and sympathisers who have comforted us in this trying moment in various ways.

"Without their counselling, home visits, support and help with the burial and funeral, we could not have coped up to this point. We know that Stephen will not be brought back to life, but we can console ourselves that at least justice has been done."