Kodjo killers given life sentences

4:34pm Friday 9th May 2008

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Two teenagers have been given life sentences for the murder of a schoolboy.

They were part of a gang which chased 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga shouting "kill him, kill him".

Kodjo was left dying in his girlfriend's arms after being stabbed in the heart in Hammersmith, west London, in March, last year.

He had been ambushed by about a dozen youngsters, including two girls, who armed themselves with knives, bats and even a bull terrier.

As horrified passers-by tried to help, the gang, some of them in their school uniforms, ran away laughing.

Judge Christopher Moss ordered that Tirrell Davis, 17, and Brandon Richmond, 14, should be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure. He told the Old Bailey they should serve a minimum term of 15 years.

Three other youths, Yemoh Kurtis, 17, Jamel Bridgeman and Michel Williams, both 15, were given 10 years' detention with five years on extended licence after their release.

The five, who had denied killing Kodjo, are all from Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush, west London.

Kodjo went into the area after being challenged to a fight by one youth - and was then ambushed by others.

The attackers were young members of the MDP - a local gang. A trademark of the MDP is to attack boys who are not part of the gang by suggesting a one-to-one fight outside their local area, culminating in a "serious assault with various weapons", according to the prosecution.

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