A mum has been jailed after making up an alibi for her teenage son who stabbed a rival to death in a Snapchat row.
Karlene Joseph, 43, told police that she was having dinner with her son on the night that Hussein Al-Saabri was murdered.
The 23-year-old died after he was knifed in the stomach in front of horrified shoppers outside Debenhams in St Anns Shopping Centre in Harrow, northwest London.
Joseph, of Harrow, Middlesex, phoned the police to provide them with the false statement for her son Jahni Menzie-Samuels.
Judge John Hillen told her that the "police gave you every opportunity to withdraw the statement", but she refused and was jailed for two years.
Menzie-Samuels and Rickarlo Williams, both 19, were armed with a Rambo knife and a machete when they hacked Mr Al-Saabri to death.
A second victim Jaffar Musair was also left with seven stab wounds while Hamoud Al-Hassona suffered an injury to his back after they too were attacked in December 2020, the Old Bailey heard.
The knife attack was act of revenge because of a Snapchat row, the court was told.
Both killers now face life sentences.
Joseph's lawyer Stephen Nelson said the care home where she worked was "likely to retain her employment either now or in the future."
Judge John Hillen reduced Joseph's sentence because she has a seven-year-old son and an older son with mental health issues who is unable to live alone.
The judge also noted that she is has not previous convictions and that she is employed as the team leader at a care home for the elderly in Brent.
He added: "Everyone would understand the maternal instinct to protect your child, but that cannot excuse your deliberate effort to help a murderer walk free.
"I note the impact that this will have on your seven-year-old child, but that's on you."
Joseph denied perverting the course of justice.
