Boy, 17, handed life sentence after stabbing teen he lured to alleyway
Kevin Beji will serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars
A 17-year-old boy who lured another teenager to a dark alley and stabbed him in his heart with a long sharp knife has been given a life sentence.
Cannabis user Kevi Beji - who has a previous conviction for wounding with intent while armed with a knife - was told by a judge today (Fri) that he is a dangerous offender.
The youth, who was convicted of attempted murder after leaving his latest victim with life threatening injuries and later said he would do it again, has to serve at least ten years behind bars before he can apply for parole.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Beji, of Kamala Way, Norris Green, knew the 16-year-old victim from college. On April 9 this year the boy received a Snapchat message apparently from Beji’s girlfriend, whom the victim had also been seeing, inviting him to her house for sex.
He rode to the scene on his bike and after another message from her phone saying she was getting ready he waited in an alley for her.
Suddenly Biji, who was wearing a balaclava, appeared with a mobile phone in one hand and long knife in the other, described by the victim as a foot long machete, said David Birrell, prosecuting.
Biji said , “That’s my ting”, referring to his girlfriend, and then lunged at him with the knife and stabbed him twice to his chest.
The blows were described as “two separate and forceful thrusts.”
The panicking victim rode home and paramedics treated him before he was rushed to hospital.
“Doctors discovered that the knife had penetrated the membrane around his heart. This had caused a build-up of fluid on the heart, which was life threatening. He was rushed for emergency surgery which literally saved his life,” said Mr Birrell.
The court heard that the weapon Biji used, described as having a razor sharp tip, had never been found but another knife was found in his room along with a balaclava.
He was convicted of attempted murder by a jury after a trial. He admitted possessing a bladed article.
Mr BIrrell said that in an impact statement the victim, who was in hospital for a week, told how that the impact “emotionally, physically and academically has been far reaching.”
Sentencing the defendant, Judge Stuart Driver, KC, said that he had lured the victim into a trap and ambushed him. “You stabbed him twice with the force of a hard punch . You wanted him to die.”
He pointed out that a few hours later he messaged the victim’s girlfriend “saying he would do it to him again.”
Judge Driver said a probation report describes Biji as posing a very high risk of serious harm to others and he ruled that he is a dangerous offender.
“Death was only avoided, first by luck and secondly by surgical skill.”
He continued, “Although a sentence of detention for life is a sentence of last resort, in my judgement, notwithstanding the youth of the defendant, I am driven to the conclusion that the facts are clearly such as to justify a sentence of detention for life.”
He said that his emotional development had been affected by witnessing domestic violence. “During the period that led to the offence he began using cannabis daily and had no clear path in his life.”
The court had heard how he had been the subject of a referral order at the time imposed for causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a bladed article in March 2022 when he was 14.
He had been with the victim and others in a city centre car park and joined in with other youths attacking him. Footage showed Biji astride him, repeatedly punching him and kneeing him to the head while possessing a knife but not using it.
Lloyd Morgan, defending, said that Biji was 16 when he committed the offence. He accepted causing the injuries and has “expressed regret, remorse and shame.”
Mr Morgan pointed out that the defendant has suffered many childhood traumas which affected him mentally and emotionally. He has PTSD from the traumas he witnessed and has mental health problems, he added.