Teen who killed defenceless 14-year-old in London sentenced on TV

A 17 year old who killed a child in south London has become the first youth to be sentenced on TV in a landmark case.

Marques Walker fatally stabbed 14 year old Jermaine Cools in Croydon in 2021, today he was jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years.

Walker was 16 at the time of the attack and had a history of carrying deadly weapons and had been on bail for carrying a Zombie knife six weeks before.

Showing a lack of remorse, he wrote about the murder in rap lyrics saying:

"Even if that youth was a civillian I would still rewind and chef up (stab) his back."

Walker, now aged 17, pleaded guilty to murder, possessing a knife and causing grievous bodily harm to a fellow inmate while in youth detention after the killing.

"The impact of Jermaine's violent and needless death is immeasurable"

Judge Sarah Munro KC, who was briefly interrupted by angry shouting from the public gallery, said:

"This is yet another case of the senseless murder of a young teenager committed for reasons no mature adult could fathom."

She said Walker stabbed Jermaine "mercilessly" and the victim "must have been terrified and in agony".

The court heard how Walker, from Bromley, Kent, was caught on CCTV footage calmly walking towards Jermaine and drawing a machete from his coat.

Jermaine either fell or was pushed to the ground before the youth ran towards him and repeatedly lunged at him with the blade.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said:

"It is clear that Jermaine Cools did not stand a chance. He could offer no resistance. He was unarmed, he was on the floor, and he was totally vulnerable.

"He was stabbed a total of seven times by Marques Walker in a senseless attack of extreme ferocity."

Jermaine had confided in his parents he was worried about knife crime

Jermaine, was driven by a passer-by to the Mayday Hospital where he died from a wound to the chest.

The 14 year-old was killed on November 18 2021. He was the youngest fatality involving knife crime in the capital that year.

Jermaine's parents described their son as a "beautiful" child and a "bright light in the world" who was just interested in music and cars.

Ms Dudek said:

"He had become aware that knife crime is massive. A lot of teenagers live with the threat of knife crime.

"It was at the forefront of his mind. He became aware of the fact Croydon has the highest amount of knife crime in London - that's where his mind was in."

Ms Dudek suggested that tackling knife crime started at home and said she had always told Jermaine never to carry a blade.

She said: "For me, Jermaine was the closest person to me, he was the best child ever.

"We do not live any more. We just exist."

When they took his life, they took ours. We just exist now. We exist in pain."

Ms Dudek thanked the people who came to her son's aid, saying: "I'm very grateful to them because without them my son would have died in the street."

Senior investigating officer Superintendent Richard Vandenbergh, said:

"Jermaine was only 14-years-old when he was stabbed to death, he was a child and we cannot ignore the fact that children are dying on the streets of London as a result of knife crime.

"Jermaine's family have been left devastated, a child with his whole life ahead of him has had it brutally snatched away. Jermaine's family have spoken out about knife crime and I hope that their courage in speaking out may stop another family losing a child to this evil crime.

"Walker was able to obtain knife after knife. Anyone seeing the pictures of those weapons police seized from him in the months leading up to the killing of Jermaine should be concerned that weapons like this seem so readily available to young men."

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