28 year sentence for murderer of Stevenage schoolboy
Patrick Sharp-Meade, aged 20, of Cutty’s Lane in Stevenage was jailed for life for the murder of schoolboy Kajetan Migdal.
A man has been sentenced after he was found guilty of the murder of schoolboy Kajetan Migdal.
Patrick Sharp-Meade, aged 20, of Cutty’s Lane in Stevenage appeared at Luton Crown Court today (Friday 17 May).
He was jailed for life and must serve 28 years minimum before he’ll be eligible for parole.
Judge John Hillen took into account time Sharp-Meade has already spent in custody and therefore must serve 26 years and 12 days minimum.
On Friday 27 May 2022, Kajetan and three friends, who attended St John Henry Newman School in Stevenage, had been at their school prom and were changing their clothes at his car, which was parked in Cutty’s Lane, before heading into Cambridge for the remainder of the night.
Wearing a balaclava and carrying a large zombie knife concealed down his trousers, Sharp-Meade confronted the boys believing they were the group who he had heard talking to his ex-girlfriend when she had phoned whilst on her way to his flat a few minutes earlier. After asking Kajetan if he was ‘from these ends’ Sharp-Meade then pulled out the knife and stabbed him, delivering a fatal wound to the heart. Kajetan died in hospital in the early hours of the next morning.
Kajetan and his friends had never met Sharp-Meade before that night and did not know his ex-girlfriend.
After the stabbing Sharp-Meade returned to his flat and hid the knife in his mattress. He left the scene but was traced by the police and quickly arrested.
In court he pleaded guilty to possessing the knife and a small number of wraps of cocaine that were found in his shoe during his arrest. He accepted that he had stabbed and killed Kajetan but denied murder.
Following a trial, it took the jury of six men and six women just over 24 hours to reach their verdict.
Judge John Hillen in sentencing said: “Kajetan Migdal was 18 years old when you killed him. He was a remarkable young man. He was larger than life; talkative, happy, a talented dancer who had appeared on national television, a bright student about to undergo a gap year before going to university. Everything pointed to a great future for Kajetan. He was someone who loved and was loved.
“It is a testament to Kajetan that nearly 1,000 people attended his funeral mass, and he was remembered in churches in Poland, all over Europe and in the wider world. He has had awards and a studio named after him, there have been and will be dance performances in his memory, a tree was planted to commemorate him.”
He told Sharp-Meade: “This is the person you murdered, depriving him of his life and depriving his family, his friends, and the world of his promise. The knife you picked up was not a normal knife, it was a knife to kill and maim. You are manipulative and have been described as cunning.”
Detective Inspector Justine Jenkins from the Major Crime Unit said: “A young person who had so much promise sadly lost their life due to the actions of one individual. There is nothing that can bring Kajetan back and whilst this sentence is significant it cannot repair the damage caused to many other lives. I hope it gives his family and loved ones an opportunity to adjust to their new reality knowing justice has now been served but I suspect not given the life-long sentence they face without Kajetan.
“I hope Sharp-Meade uses his time to reflect on his actions and the devastating consequences they’ve had. Our thoughts remain with Kajetan’s family who I’d like to thank for their bravery and strength throughout this entire, lengthy process. It is nearly two years since Kajetan lost his life and there will not have been a single day when they have not relived what happened only extending their trauma.”
Family Tribute
Gemma Migdal, mother of Kajetan Migdal, says:
I speak on behalf of my husband Janusz - Kajetan's father, my son Fabian - Kajetan's younger brother, and myself, Gemma - Kajetan's mother.
Kajetan was our first-born, the reason we had a second child, so that he would never have to be alone in this world, and what Fabian and Kajetan had as siblings was a closeness greater than even we ever hoped for. But now his brother Fabian is alone, without the reassurance of a brother to turn when we are gone. He will have to go through his life without the comfort, support and laughter of his big brother by his side. We will never know what children he might have had - our grandchildren and nephews or nieces. And some of his cousins will never get to meet him in person.
We were a happy household, a close family of which Kajetan was the life and soul, the beating heart. He was raised a Christian and we are proud that he lived out those values in his life, with an energy, a passion and a kindness unparalleled by many. Kajetan was larger than life. He was always smiling, always talking, always making plans. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he was sensitive to the needs of others. He listened to what people said, and he cared enough to remember, making his gifts at birthdays and Christmas extra special. He knew how to love and care for people, and his emotional maturity was way beyond his young years. After his death we lost count of the number of young people who barely knew Kajetan but who approached us wanting to share with us how grateful they were that he reached out to them when they were feeling marginalised, vulnerable and lonely. He had a special ability to sense when someone was feeling outcast, especially the neurodiverse. It was not in Kajetan's nature to be able to turn his back on people in need. He had the empathy and kindness of heart to include people when others might not.
We will never get to know what things he would have gone on to achieve in life, but everything pointed to the fact that they would have been great, including the results of the A levels he sat before his death. It is heartbreaking that he worried so much about succeeding in these without ever getting to know how well he had done. He was looking forward to a gap year and working for an animal charity before further study. Testament again to his philanthropic nature - his compassion for people and animals alike.
Our home is now empty, quiet. The vacuum that has been left behind is enormous. It engulfs us all, all of the time. Yet, this is our home, and it is where we come together at the end of each exhausting, difficult day to be together and to try to process our emotions, so that we can start again on the relentless emotional treadmill the next day.
These last months, we have gone through the motions of life. We have returned to work, college, and everyday things. But now, these things are a routine, an endless loop of things that we have to do every day in order to protect our home and our youngest son Fabian. The joy in our lives has been put out. The laughter has gone.
Fabian, his brother, puts every strength he has into his chef training, however, the excitement and passion he once held for it has been lost. It is now just another thing he has to do. We are on a treadmill, repeating the same thing every day, just in order
to survive. Some days it feels like we can't even breathe, but we push. We carry on. We have no choice. We do this for our wonderful, strong and amazing Fabian. To give him the best chance of some future. He is 18. He has a life ahead and we will do everything we can to help him find some joy in that life eventually. Kajetan would want this.
We know we are not alone in our grief. Also devastated by his loss are his grandmother Lorna, his grandmother Zofia in Poland and the rest of his extended family across the UK, the US, Poland and Spain.
My sister, Kajetan's auntie Corrie, has written of the effect on her of Kajetan's death, in a letter addressed to him. These are some of her words:
"I've experienced a lot of grief, especially in the last few months, but for everyone I have lost, none compares to losing you in this way. This senseless act of violence that was so unnecessary and you so undeserving. It's a kind of pain I would never wish on anyone. There is a giant hole in my heart and you are constantly on my mind. The kids are struggling too. The pain of losing you in this way is extremely difficult for them to process at their young ages. They have nightmares about 'the bad man' and are more scared than they were before.
I am sorry I wasn't able to be there when you took your last breaths. I'm sorry I hadn't seen you in person for so long and that I never will again. Saying goodbye to you was so hard. Burying you was so hard. Leaving a few days after your funeral was so hard. Continuing on life without you is so hard. Not hearing 'happy birthday Aunty Corrie' was hard. Not having a family Christmas call with you was hard. The kids felt it too. Life is now harder than it's ever been before and the joy I once found in everyday things has gone."
Kajetan also had an incredibly wide circle of friends from many different walks of life, all of whom have been affected in different ways by his death.
Kajetan was part of a very diverse dance community that spanned the whole of London and the South East of England. Their competitions took them all over the UK and Europe. Kajetan was a significant talent within that community and had won many trophies and taken part in the Greatest Dancer Show that aired on TV. This community has been truly rocked by his death and though they express their grief through dance, the emotional impact has been substantial.
His year group at school were at an exciting point in their lives, having all recently turned 18, in the middle of sitting their A level exams, and all looking forward to the paths that lay ahead of them. Indeed, that very night they had all come together joyously to celebrate their shared schooling experience of 7 years, and for some of them, a period of education shared since starting nursery at the age of 4. In addition to the impact this had on them during their exam period, these young people have had to deal with the kind of loss which no 18-year-old should have to process. No doubt they will carry this loss with them throughout the rest of their lives. Especially those present with him during the last moments who witnessed the terrible and harrowing attack and who felt powerless to help. The psychological and emotional impact of this is profound and still affects them today.
It is worse still for those of us present at the hospital, including his girlfriend, brother and grandmother, who helplessly witnessed Kajetan's life ebb away before us. I cannot describe to you what those 4 hours at the hospital were like - it is unbearable pain. There were brief glimmers of hope, when the doctors and nurses fighting so hard to save him thought they may have been able to do so. But it soon became apparent that although they tried, and they tried and they tried, they could not repair the damage. We were asked to say goodbye to our wonderful precious boy and reassure him that he could go. Kajetan must have been aware because at this point we saw tears roll down his cheeks as we held his hand and stroked his hair. It replays as a harrowing video on a loop in our heads. We are never free of it and it stops me sleeping at night. Kajetan was a pacifist who hated violence and had a phobia of knives. He couldn't even bear to see us walking around the kitchen with them and would often berate us for this. We are haunted by the thought of how frightened he must have been to see the weapon. Haunted by how alone he must have felt when he fell to the ground bleeding, knowing he had been stabbed. Haunted by the pain he suffered during the attack, at the scene as they tried to revive him, and might have continued to suffer at the hospital.
No parent should have to bury their child under such senseless circumstances. Yet this is the task that we faced. And Kajetan's death is not just our loss. In having to bury him, we became aware of just how many lives Kajetan had touched in his short years.
These are some of their words of tribute:
Mr Tucker - one of his teachers: "Kajetan's life may have been a short one, but it was a life well lived with his eclectic interests and talents. The response to his death is witness to the fact that he has touched so many members of the St John Henry Newman community in different ways."
"He was a unique individual whose contribution to the school and the community has been far greater than he will ever know."
Miss Heasman, his form tutor for 5 years: "The year group will never be the same again as a 'link in our chain' has been lost. I know a new shining star will be in the sky this evening. Rest in peace Kajetan, the line from our school prayer 'happier for the meeting' is never more appropriate."
Pawel, his best friend from the age of 4.
"Fate can be described as the development of events outside a person's control. But on the contrary I believe this is something he brought to everyone. He had this unmatched ability to bring people's lives together. Wherever he went in life, good fate followed him.
He had so much left to give to this world that any regular person could not have imagined.
I was so excited to see what he would bring into this world."
We had no time to prepare ourselves for the agonising decisions around the burial process, which we were forced to make in shock.
Our community came to a standstill for the funeral. Nearly 1,000 people attended the day. We understood then the impact that our beautiful boy had on so many people. We were told stories of kindnesses he had shown, laughter he had created - things we didn't even know. A member of our community that watched the live stream on Broadway Gardens said: "The outside part was so moving. Hundreds of people stood still on Broadway Gardens, lining up to take communion and the prayers booming out. It was our community at its best, at its worst of times". In addition, remembrance services were held in his father's hometown in Poland, candles have been lit in Kajetan's memory at churches all over Europe and beyond. His primary school have planted a tree, his secondary school have named their dance studio after him, and created an annual award for dance and creativity named the 'Kajetan Migdal Award'. His dance community have held performances in Kajetan's memory and continue to plan for more such events.
My husband Janusz is self-employed and was incapable of resuming work for months in his distress following Kajetan's murder. He still finds it a struggle to work anywhere near as productively as before, leading to huge losses in earnings. I have also been massively impacted in my work. After 22 dedicated years of hard, successful work in a job I once loved, I now, for various reasons exacerbated by my vulnerability in grief, feel unable to continue. We are exhausted. Fatigue has made us lose our fight in life. Financial stress continues to compound our grief. Kajetan's father is still so deeply affected by our loss that he has been unable to face attending the trial and having to hear the awful details of what happened. I have had to attend without his support, which has been doubly difficult. Even when I return home each evening he cannot bear to hear about it.
Everyone close to Kajetan is a changed person. It's like there are two versions of everyone. The people we were before, and the people we are now.
We will never get over this.
The law has a duty to protect innocent people from those who one way or another pose a danger to others in society. This inhumane, senseless and unprovoked attack brought to an end the life of our utterly innocent, talented and widely cherished Kajetan, ruining and changing the course of the lives of so many other innocents in its wake.
We don't just want justice. It can't give us the only thing we want - to have Kajetan back. But to find any kind of peace, we need the absolute certainty that such an unforgiveable act never again be allowed to be committed by those hands. At least give us that.