Two men have been jailed after a 28-year-old was stabbed to death outside his home in Newham.
Rayhan Yasin Ali, 20, and Junaid Sulaiman, 22, were found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter following a trial at the Old Bailey in July.
The court heard how Ali and Sulaiman met on the December 29, 2020, with the intention of meeting 28-year-old Abiola Akerele at his home in Stondon Walk, East Ham.
Shortly after 3pm, one of the defendants phoned Mr Akerele and arranged to visit him.
The defendants soon arrived at his home and Mr Akerele went outside, where a fight broke out and a knife was brought out.
Mr Akerele was overpowered and subjected to a “savage” attack in which he was stabbed.
The suspects then ran from the scene while Mr Akerele was helped back inside his house.
Paramedics rushed to the scene but despite their best efforts, Mr Akerele died around an hour after the attack.
Detectives launched an investigation, and found CCTV footage that captured the suspects arriving at, and fleeing the scene.
Ali, of Abbots Road in East Ham, and Sulaiman, of Prince Regent Lane in Newham, were arrested. Data from their mobile phones revealed further details about their movements.
Officers also recovered various items of clothing from the suspects that matched those worn by the attackers, while Mr Akerele’s blood was found on a trainer and jogging bottoms seized from Ali.
On Thursday, Sulaiman was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment with an extended licence period of two years.
Ali was sentenced to four years in a young offenders’ institution, with an extended licence period of two years.
In her victim impact statement, the victim’s mother, Abimbola Akerele, said: “Abiola did not deserve what happened to him, no one does.”
Addressing the defendants, she said: “I want you to know the consequences of your actions that day. You have altered my life, all our lives. You have caused us so much pain and sorrow.
“The day you took Abi’s life, you took a huge part of mine and you took five others. Myself, his dad, and his three brothers. Words cannot describe how your actions on that faithful day have impacted us. You have cut us deep.”
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who led the investigation, said: “Sulaiman and Ali will now spend a long period of their young, adult lives in prison. While this in no way can compensate Abiola’s family and friends for their loss, I do hope it gives them some sense that justice has been served.
“The death of Abiola Akerele is another example of the futility of carrying knives and the disastrous consequences of what can happen when violence escalates.”
