Remember Jeffrey Okafor? He was the 24 year old who stabbed a CBBC actor to death outside a nightclub in central London and fled to Nigeria.Jeffrey Okafor has been found guilty of murder.
The 24 year old, stabbed and killed Carl Beatson Asiedu in Vauxhall in August 2009 when a late-night row escalated into violence. The court was told he confessed to his
girlfriend before fleeing to Nigeria using his brother's passport.
Mr Beatson Asiedu, who appeared in the CBBC series M.I. High, was also a part-time DJ known as DJ Charmz.
- DNA found on gloves
On the night he was killed he was with friends and had performed a set at the Club Life nightclub near Vauxhall station. Outside the club he and his friends were approached by a larger group of men,
which included Okafor, and an argument broke out.
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| Carl Asiedu killed by Jeffrey Okafor in Vauxhall,London. |
Mr Asiedu and his friend Peter Lama, who survived, were stabbed in the following attack, while their friends fled.
They returned to find Mr Asiedu collapsed in the road and tried to drive him to hospital but despite first aid from police and paramedics, he was pronounced dead in the car.
His father, John Asiedu, said he will never be free of the pain of his son’s death and suffers fresh grief every time he hears of a stabbing. He said:
“Part of me died with him and I have to carry on living with what is left of me. Carl's tragic death has changed my view of life, people, the justice system and the world.I would urge Jeffrey Okafor to do the right thing and give himself up. I believe there are people in Nigeria who know him but don't know who he really is.
“I believe he is living comfortably with a new life. Sometimes I wonder how such killers can lead normal lives with their families and friends who sometimes protect and shield them from the law.
"I am still serving the life sentence of sorrow and pain embedded in my consciousness.”
Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, told Woolwich Crown Court:
"After the attack, Jeffrey Okafor actually confessed to a girlfriend that he had stabbed Carl Asiedu."Okafor confessed in a phone call within an hour of the attack and days later he told the same woman that he had stabbed the DJ in the stomach. She said he gave her a pair of black gloves to look after which were later passed to police.
DNA which may have come from the victim was found on one of the gloves.
The prosecution said four days later Jeffrey Okafor boarded a flight from Heathrow Airport to Lagos using his brother's passport. He was extradited from Nigeria in November.
Jeffrey Okafor, of East Dulwich, south-east London, is due to be sentenced on Friday.
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| Arrested Jeffrey Okafor in Nigerian Police custody |