Court sentences 14-yr-old boy to life imprisonment for killing school mate
A Birmingham Crown Court has sentenced a 14-year-old boy, Yussuf Mustapha, to life imprisonment for killing his 15-year-old school mate, Keon Lincoln.
Delivering judgement on the teenager and four others indicted in the murder, Lord Justice William Davis, described Yussuf and the other youths who carried out the killing as “heartless, evil monsters” who should be locked up for life.
The Judge held that Yussuf had specifically shown a clear intent to kill when he opened fire on Keon at close range.
Lord Davis said, “Certainly there is no indication that he is immature for his age or that he suffers from any behavioural issues which might have led to the events of January 21.
“The offence was not impulsive or the result of volatility. I have no evidence of negative influences other than the fact that the other defendants were older than him.”
Yussuf’s co-defendants Tahjgeem Breakenridge, 18, and Michael Ugochukwu, 18, were both sentenced to life for murder with a minimum term of 19 years.
Following the judgement, Yussuf holds the record of becoming Britain’s youngest person to be convicted of a gun murder.
The convict whose parents are originally from Ghana, turned 14 just three weeks before he shot and killed the Birmingham schoolboy.
He is expected to spend a mandatory 16 years in prison before he could be considered for parole.
The West Midlands Police, had said during the trial that Keon was aged 15 when he was stabbed several times and shot by Yussuf and four other teenagers near his home on January 21.
The prosecution had told the court jury that the victim had suffered eight sharp force injuries and a fatal gunshot injury to his abdomen outside his home in Linwood Road, Handsworth, Birmingham.
