Teen stabbed during 'revenge attack', court hears

6:50pm Thursday 24th July 2008

Stab victim Eugene Attram was killed in a gang brawl that started as a reprisal from a fight the night before, a court heard today.

The 16-year-old from Thornton Heath was fatally stabbed when about 60 members of two rival gangs clashed in Lavender Avenue, Mitcham, in November 2006.

Mr Attram, a pupil of Ernest Bevin School in Tooting, was one of 14 from Battersea-based gang, SUK, who travelled to Mitcham with the aim of avenging a robbery and assault on a fellow SUK member in Southfields the night before, the Old Bailey heard.

The jury was told how they were targeting anyone associated with Mitcham gang, Terror Zone. They headed to a fast food restaurant, Kentish Chicken, known as one of the rival gang’s hangouts, and punched a customer.

Prosector Anthony Leonard QC claimed the alarm was quickly raised among TZ members who then ambushed Mr Attram’s group as they made their way through Lavender Park.

“You had a group of SUK boys out for revenge for what happened the previous evening. They went on to TZ turf because they thought they had sufficient numbers to take care of themselves,” Mr Leonard told the jury.

“It was clear that if the two groups met, nothing less than a violent disorder would take place, as indeed it did.”

Police found 14 knives around the murder scene and Mr Attram’s blood was stained on clothing belonging to the five charged in relation to the killing.

Ashley Rookwood, 18, from Tooting, accused of murder, stood in the dock alongside four others charged with violent disorder - Sunil Alleyne, Loren Fejzui, Ben Sampson, all 18 from Mitcham, and a 15-year-old from Tooting who cannot be named.

Mr Leonard said that the presence of Mr Attram’s DNA on the defendants' clothing strongly suggested their involvement in his killing.

He added: “None of the defendants have chosen to make the short walk from the back of the court to give evidence. They have remained silence in interview and remained silent now because their cases cannot stand up to cross examination.”

All five deny their charges, claiming they were not at the scene or directly involved in the fight that saw Mr Attram stabbed in the face, back and chest. Mr Attram’s friend, who rushed to his side, was knifed 10 times.

Mr Leonard told the court how all but one had been stopped by police officers on separate occasions for violent crimes or possession of a knife.

Rookwood was stopped after a robbery in Colliers Wood, as was Alleyne. Alleyne had also been arrested for carrying a knife within four months of Mr Attram’s death.

Ben Sampson had been found in possession of a scalpel and in July 2007 was stopped for making threats to police in Wimbledon town centre.

And Mr Leonard told the jury how the 15-year-old defendant who cannot be named had “resorted to violence and on the most recent occasion, caused such damage to the victim’s face that he had to be operated on".

He had also been arrested earlier this year, while on bail, for carrying a lock knife with a four-inch blade.

The trial continues.