A UK court has sentenced a Nigerian to life in prison with a minimum term of 17 years for stabbing a CBBC star to death outside a nightclub in an ‘entirely unprovoked and unnecessary attack’.
Carl Beatson-Asiedu, who appeared in the BBC children’s series M.I. High, was set upon and stabbed in the heart as he left a club with friends in 2009.
His killer Jeffrey Okafor, 24, confessed to the murder to his girlfriend, but fled to Nigeria on his brother’s passport – sparking a five year manhunt.
He was eventually extradited and was yesterday found guilty of murder after a trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.
Sentencing him today to life with a minimum of 17 years and 146 days, Judge Christopher Kinch QC said: ‘I have concluded that this was an entirely unprovoked and unnecessary attack in a public place.’
He added: ‘This has been aggravated by the fact that it was a group attack in a public place with violence involving a number of people and that you took a knife to the scene to use in that attack.
‘The fact that you chose to lie low and then leave the country is not something I can properly regard as an aggravating factor.
‘However, it demonstrates a complete absence of remorse and an overwhelming interest in self-preservation.
‘The consequence is that the ordeal for Carl Beatson-Asiedu’s family has been greatly extended and drawn out.’
Okafor showed no emotion as the sentence was passed with members of both his and Mr Beatson-Asiedu’s family looking on from the public gallery.
Mr Beatson-Asiedu, 19, was a university student and DJ who was well known in the club scene as DJ Charmz.
*reported by Mail Online