Two drug dealers who stabbed an aspiring lawyer to death in a case of mistaken identity as he returned from a trip to Waitrose have each been jailed for life.
Sven Badzak, 22, and a 16-year-old friend were attacked by a group of six young men as they walked in Kilburn, north-west London, on the afternoon of 6 February 2021.
Mr Badzak, from Maida Hill, west London, was repeatedly stabbed after falling to the ground, while his friend suffered multiple stab injuries but managed to escape into a nearby supermarket on Willesden Lane.
Rashid Gedel, 21, from Ilford, was found guilty of murder— (Met Police)
Rashid Gedel, 22, from Ilford, and Shiroh Ambersley, 23, from Wembley, were both sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 27 years at the Old Bailey on Thursday, after they were found guilty of murder following a trial at the same court on 7 July.
The jury deliberated for over 25 hours before they delivered the guilty verdicts by a majority of 10 to two, acquitting the pair of attempted murder but convicting both of wounding with intent.
Mr Badzak’s mother Jasna, a former Conservative Party activist, had attended the trial by video link after it was delayed due to industrial action by barristers last summer.
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard KC said the victims were targeted in a “gang-style attack” over what the killers regarded as their drugs territory.
Shiroh Ambersley, 22, from Wembley, has been sentenced after he was convicted of murder— (Met Police)
He told the court previously: “Neither victim was a gang member or associate. It appears they were the unfortunate victims of mistaken identity.”
Mr Badzak suffered four injuries, one of which was fatal, and the then 16-year-old victim suffered one injury to his back which was “nearly fatal”, Mr Orchard added.
Mr Badzak’s mother Jasna watched the sentencing online and in a witness statement read out loud, said her son was the “kindest person to walk the earth”.
She said: “For me Sven was everything, my reason to live, my only child, more than the apple of my eye, my love, my full support, my best friend.”
Jasna Badzak holding photographs of her son Sven— (PA Archive)
Ms Badzak added: “In the aristocratic but tiny Badzak family dating back since 1168, I am the first female born after 13 generations. Sven was my only child and was the only successor. The world needs more like Sven.”
The mother of the 16-year-old said in a witness statement that her son is “suffering mentally with PTSD, night terrors, flashbacks and has withdrawn completely socially”.
She added: “These people robbed me of my son and have left an empty shell behind, a damaged boy I no longer recognise.”
Both defendants, who were identified on CCTV, admitted to being at the scene— (Met Police)
Melanie Simpson KC, defending Gedel, said the defendant “clearly expressed regret” when giving evidence.
She added that he was placed in care at the age of 13 and was in 14 different care placements in the years afterwards.
Brian St Louis KC, defending Ambersley, said: “We suggest the defendant’s offending relates to his youth, his lack of maturity and lack of supervision.”
He added: “He has always expressed to us his deep regret that Mr Badzak died. That was never an intention that he wanted but he accepts the jury’s finding in relation to that death.”
Both defendants, who were identified on CCTV, admitted to carrying knives in the past and drug dealing in the area— (Met Police)
Harvey Canavan, 19, from Maida Vale, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful wounding and Lior Agbayan, 20, had fled to the Ivory Coast and has not returned, jurors were told.
The remaining two suspects have not been identified, the court heard.
Michael Bromley-Martin KC, defending Canavan, said: “The unlawful act which he committed and he admitted to committing is to appear to be involved with others, to walk around the area of Willesden Lane with the intention of selling cannabis, knowing that others in the group would be armed with a knife or knives and being reckless to whether some harm, not serious harm, would be caused by one of the others by means of the use of a knife or knives.”
He added that Canavan was at the time a “very damaged, very vulnerable, very immature child”.
Harvey Canavan, 19, from Maida Vale, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful wounding— (Met Police)
Judge John Dodd KC called the eight-second attack “brutal and savage and swift”.
He said: “Sven Badzak was clearly a decent young man. He was 22 when you attacked and killed him. It’s clear that he’d done absolutely nothing wrong on that February day.”
Gedel and Ambersley were also sentenced to 12 years to run concurrently for wounding with intent.
Canavan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for manslaughter and 15 months to run concurrently for unlawful wounding.
