'Cowardly' teens jailed for killing 15 year old in south-east London

Two teenagers who have been described as 'cowardly' have been sentenced to a combined total of 32 years in prison following the death of Daejaun Campbell in south east London.

18 year old Imre Doue's received 21 years for the murder of the 15-year-old, who was stabbed with a machete in Woolwich in September last year.

19 year old Marko Balaz will spend 11 years behind bars after being found guilty of manslaughter and drugs charges.

Earlier, Daejaun's mother Joelle Taylor faced her son's killers in court and said: "I keep asking when will this knife crime epidemic end?

"The reality is actions like yours tear families and communities apart."

She condemned her son's killers as "pathetic cowards" and said Daejaun was let down repeatedly by the system that was "meant to protect him".

Daejaun was a "true character" who was playful and cheeky and planning a "new start" just before he was killed, she said.

Addressing the dock, Mrs Taylor said: "Your actions have inflicted immense pain on me and my family and I struggle to write something that is not overwhelmed by raw emotion and anger that I feel."

Mrs Taylor criticised the killers for their "lack of remorse" and said their sentence should reflect the "devastation" they had caused.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Munro echoed Mrs Taylor's words, telling the court: "As she rightly says, enough young lives have been lost already."

Daejaun had been "sucked in" to a life in which carrying a knife was the "norm" and the defendants took away his chance to turn away from his "criminal behaviour", she said.

The court had heard how Daejaun was targeted for a "gang check" when he was spotted near a house the defendants were visiting.

As he was attacked, he screamed for "help" and threw a large knife which hit a metal fence and broke apart.

Jurors heard the motive for the killing was unclear but that Daejaun had been carrying money and drugs, possibly crack cocaine.

Daejaun's friend and aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa, 14, nicknamed Grippa, had featured in a YouTube music video entitled Gotta Eat, in which he was seen crouching beside a floral tribute to Daejaun.

Then on January 7, Kelyan too was fatally stabbed by two 16-year-old boys with machetes on a bus in Woolwich.

Daejaun and Kelyan's murders, though not directly related, bore striking similarities and have resulted in pleas by their families to end the "senseless killings".

Previously Kelyan's mother Marie Bokassa made an appeal for authorities to do more to stop the violence, saying: "Our streets are bleeding."

Earlier this year, two 16-year-old youths were detained for at least 15 years and 10 months after pleading guilty at the Old Bailey to Kelyan's murder.

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