Nathan Smith convicted of Finsbury Park murder
(Picture: Met police )A man on Europol’s most wanted list who stabbed to death a delivery in Finsbury Park driver before fleeing the country for 17 months has been found guilty of murder.
Nathan Smith, 28, knifed Takieddine Boudhane in a road rage attack after the pair clashed in the street.
Mr Boudhane, 30, who was on his delivery scooter, desperately tried to use his bike helmet to fight off Smith, CCTV played to an Old Bailey jury showed.
Smith had been on Europol’s Most Wanted Fugitives list and officers from the Met’s serious crime manhunt team known as Op Artemis worked alongside detectives leading the murder investigation to track him down.
The killer, from Holloway, was located in Portugal and arrived back in London on Thursday 3 June, 2021, when he was charged with murder in connection with the murder in Lennox Road in 2020.
He was convicted by the jury on Wednesday and will be sentenced at the same court on August 25.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who led the investigation, said: “Smith thought he could get away with murder by leaving the UK but we never gave up our efforts to find him, using all of the resources at the Met’s disposal.
“It is an absolute tragedy for Takieddine and his family that what seemed to start as a minor road traffic dispute led to him losing his life. This case yet again illustrates the dangers that weapons cause on our streets and I hope anyone considering carrying a knife thinks again after seeing the devastation this case has wreaked on two sets of families.”
Mr Boudhane, an Algerian national living in Enfield, was on a delivery when he clashed with Smith, who was in a white van, about the nature of his driving.
After shouting at each other, both vehicles came to a stop with Smith parking his van on Charteris Road and the victim getting off his bike on nearby Lennox Road.
CCTV shows that as Mr Boudhane got off his moped, Smith emerged from the van with a knife in his hand and ran towards him where the argument continued.
On the footage showed to the court it appeared the incident was over as Smith walked back towards his van and Mr Boudhane towards his moped. However Smith then ran at speed towards his victim, who tried to flee.
He is seen using his crash helmet to try and defend himself from Smith, who was lunging at him with a knife.
He was fatally stabbed in the chest andn although he managed to chase Smith towards his van, collapsed on the street.
Despite paramedics battling to save his life he died at the scene shortly afterwards.
