Matt Banji reports on the murder conviction of a Romford youth.
Teenager Shawn Green has been convicted of the murder of Derek Boateng, who was stabbed to death on a 393 bus in Hackney. Boateng was celebrating his sixteenth birthday on the day of the attack. Green (16), from Romford, will serve 12 years behind bars.
Green claimed that Boateng had pulled a knife on him, and he was acting in self-defence.
There was said to be ‘previous hostility’ between the two youths, and that ‘immediate hostility’ ensued as soon as Green boarded the bus.
Tom Kark QC, prosecuting, said that witnesses saw Green storm aggressively to the back of the bus where Boateng was sitting, draw out a 6-8 inch kitchen knife and ‘push it two three times’ towards Boateng as horrified commuters attempted to separate the pair.
Boateng sustained a single stab wound to the heart. He was airlifted to the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, but died of his injuries the following day.