Image of bloody murder weapon published as teenage killer jailed

Parents grieving the loss of two sons to knife crime have released a picture of a bloody murder weapon as one of the killers was locked up.

Erick Ekam was just 17 when he plunged the large kitchen knife into Mohamed Aadam Mohamed, 20, on the morning of September 4 2017.

A graphic image of the blade was released by police at the request of Mr Mohamed’s family as a shock deterrent.

Mr Mohamed’s parents embraced police and prosecutors after their son’s killer, Ekam, now 19, was sentenced to at least 17 years behind bars.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Grieve QC said: “Knives ruin lives – the lives of the victims, their families, even the lives of the perpetrators and such crimes are all too common. Courts must do what they can to halt them.”

The court had heard that Ekam attacked Mr Mohamed after a heated argument in the street in Hampstead Road, Camden, north London.

In front of a family with young children, the defendant produced the blade from the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms and stabbed Mr Mohamed in the back.

The City and Guilds Business School worker fled across the road and collapsed in the street in front of a plain clothes police officer, who also witnessed the attack.

The officer gave chase and Ekam, of Camden, threw away his knife before he tripped and fell.

He was found guilty of murder after a trial at the Old Bailey.

Judge Grieve told Ekam: “While I accept a heated argument broke out, he had no weapon and your attack on him was vicious and massively disproportionate to any threat you thought he posed.”

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of Scotland Yard, said: “Ekam is a wicked, dangerous young man who went out with a knife, intent on inflicting harm.

“His mindless actions have robbed a family of a much-loved son. They are a remarkable family who have lost two sons to knife crime in six months and a cousin five years ago. They have been so supportive and dignified.”

In a statement, Mr Mohamed’s mother, Fowsioa Abdi, said: “There are really no words in existence that accurately describe or quantify the pain and grief that the murder of our son has left us to bear.

“Mohamed was ripped from the hearts of four other siblings that day, a father, mother, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and friends, all of whom he shared a unique individual relationship with.

“He was a young man with great ambitions and life goals. He had invincible confidence and would often say ‘Just wait ’til I’m older and see what I achieve’.

“Losing a loved one is painful enough, but to hear and see the way in which he was so swiftly taken away from us makes the pain indescribable.

“We honestly have no idea where we will begin to recover from this tragedy.

“Our only hope at this point is that the individual responsible for his death has been brought to justice.

“Although it will never remedy or console the immense hole that now resides in all our hearts, it will at least honour his memory with knowing that those responsible did not escape the consequences.”

Earlier in mitigation for Ekam, Bernard Richmond, QC, said: “He recognised what happened that day caused devastation to the family and he apologises for it.”