A South London teenager has been found guilty of murder after stabbing an 18-year-old man earlier this year. Ben Moncrieff was killed by a 15-year-old boy when stabbed once to the chest after a night out in Bath city centre in May.
Ben’s mother Sharon Hendry paid tribute to her son and said he was loved by everyone who knew him. She said his death had caused ‘total devastation’.
Having left a club, Ben and his friends walked towards McDonald’s in Southgate Street and encountered a group of males, including the defendant, who were in possession of balloons and suspected nitrous oxide gas cannisters. That group had arrived in a car shortly beforehand.
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Boy fled the scene and dumped the knife in a bin
The boy is seen in footage taking a step back and dropping a gas cannister as Ben approaches him, before pulling out the weapon and stabbing the 18-year-old to death.
CCTV showed a verbal confrontation between the defendant and one of Ben’s friends. The court heard that Ben stepped in at that point to protect his friend, and a witness heard the defendant tell Ben to ‘come around the corner’.
He fled the scene and dumped the knife in a bin nearby, which was recovered by officers. He was arrested a short time later and made no comment during police interviews.
CCTV footage was found which shows the 15-year-old lift up his top and reveal he has a knife tucked into his waistband.
The defendant, who is now 16 but cannot be publicly named due to his age, was found guilty of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court after a six-day trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article in a public place.
During his evidence in court, the teenager stated he had taken the knife off of a boy of a similar age early in the day to protect them. However, the prosecution presented the jury with social media videos of the defendant playing with a matching knife that had been recorded earlier that same week.
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The defendant told the court it was a different knife that happened to look identical. He has been remanded for sentencing on Wednesday, December 6.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Mark Newbury said: “Our thoughts are with Ben’s loved ones who we continue to support as they grieve for a much-loved son and friend. At 18 years old Ben had his whole life ahead of him, but it was snatched away.
“The outpouring of support Ben’s family have received from his friends is a testament to how popular a young man he was. Tragically, Ben happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t know the defendant and was entirely blameless.
"He was bravely standing up for a friend when the defendant made a conscious decision to pull out a knife and attack Ben knowing it would gravely injure him at the very least. We believe the defendant sought to attempt to glorify knife crime by posing in social media videos in the days leading up to Ben’s death and also showing off he was carrying one in the minutes before he killed Ben.”
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