A teenager has been detained for more than six years for stabbing a 16-year-old boy on a Victoria line Tube train.
Amarjay Nkemayang, 19, of Crawshay Road, London, attacked the youngster with a hunting knife after pursuing him onto the Tube at Brixton station just before 3pm on November 23, the Old Bailey was told.
Steve Molloy, prosecuting, told the court that Nkemayang was part of a group of four males who came across the 16-year-old outside a JD Sports store in Brixton.
They then followed the teenager to Brixton Tube station.
(Witnesses) described the males flailing knives at each other. They were fighting each other with knives for 30 seconds— Steve Molloy, prosecuting
Realising that he was being followed, the 16-year-old pushed his way through the barriers.
The four males followed after him, splitting up as they searched the station.
Mr Molloy told the court that Nkemayang – who pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon at a previous hearing – followed the victim onto a Tube train, and the pair engaged in a knife fight.
The court heard that two off-duty police officers witnessed the incident. Mr Molly summarised their witness statements.
“They described the males flailing knives at each other,” he told the court.
“They were fighting each other with knives for 30 seconds.”
One officer said that passengers were left “screaming” and “hysterical”, the prosecutor said.
“She said that the incident started with the defendant lunging towards (the victim) with his knife,” he added.
“(The victim) then responded in kind, both males swinging knives in their hands.”
The court heard that both males were injured in the fight, with the 16-year-old receiving a two-and-a-half-inch wound to the left side of his torso.
Mr Molloy told the court that there was no CCTV footage of the knife fight, as the camera on the carriage was not working.
But CCTV footage from an adjacent carriage showed the aftermath of the knife fight, with Nkemayang entering the carriage through the emergency doors.
Concerned passengers could be seen fleeing down the carriage as Nkemayang walked through it, with the knife still in his hand.
Mr Molloy said one passenger heard Nkemayang say: “I have stabbed him, I have murdered him. I am going to go down for murder.
“If I had not killed him, and he comes for me, I will have to kill him.”
The public expect to be able to travel on public transport for leisure purposes or to and from work in safety and without fear— Judge David Aubrey
After the train pulled into Stockwell station, the defendant was apprehended on the platform by police and arrested.
Mr Molloy said that the 16-year-old refused to give a statement to police, and did not allow officers to take photographs of his wound.
Speaking in mitigation for Nkemayang, Alejandra Tascon said: “This is a young man who was suffering from trauma at the time of the incident.
“He himself having suffered a stabbing in October 2022, which he says led to him making the biggest mistake of his life.”
Sentencing Nkemayang to six years and four months in a young offenders institution, judge David Aubrey said that an aggravating feature of the case was that it took place on public transport.
“The public expect to be able to travel on public transport for leisure purposes or to and from work in safety and without fear,” he said.
He added that he was impressed by a letter sent to the court by Nkemayang, and that he believed he had the potential to live a law-abiding life when he was released from detention.
