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Footballer stab killer detained | Footballer stab killer detained |
(20 minutes later) | |
A 14-year-old boy who accidentally stabbed his friend, a promising footballer, in the neck in east London has been detained for six years. | |
Michael Ematuwo admitted to the manslaughter of Jahmal Mason-Blair, 17. | Michael Ematuwo admitted to the manslaughter of Jahmal Mason-Blair, 17. |
Jahmal, from Dalston, east London, was stabbed in a street in Hackney, east London, in May. He died at the scene. | |
The Old Bailey heard Jahmal had been trying to protect Ematuwo from a youth but the defendant accidentally stabbed Jahmal while waving a flick knife. | |
Severed artery | |
Jahmal's friends said he dreamed of being a professional footballer and he had trials for Reading, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford. | Jahmal's friends said he dreamed of being a professional footballer and he had trials for Reading, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford. |
He played for Borehamwood Football Club, which played a memorial game for him with Crystal Palace. | He played for Borehamwood Football Club, which played a memorial game for him with Crystal Palace. |
Jahmal and the boy had been summoned to collect a bike which had previously been stolen from Ematuwo. | |
But when they arrived, Ematuwo was hit on the head twice with a wooden plank, it was heard. | |
The boy took out a flick knife and began waving it around to frighten the youth but accidentally severed Jahmal's artery. | |
The case represents the first under new tougher guidelines for sentencing knife crime. | The case represents the first under new tougher guidelines for sentencing knife crime. |
Judge Paul Worsley said the guidelines meant all jail terms had to be a deterrent. | |
He told Ematuwo: "It was the carrying of a knife which led to the death of Jahmal. | |
"You have destroyed the life of his family. Jahmal was the bright star in the lives of his family. | |
"He was a decent, popular boy and a talented footballer. He was a boy who met his death trying to stop violence, not causing it." |