Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter

by Benson Agoha | Crime

* Evan Edwards who pleaded guilty.
 He was sentenced at the Old Bailey. (Credit: via Twitter)

A 20-year-old man involved in a disturbance on a bus which ended in a man being fatally stabbed has pleaded guilty to manslaughter today, Tuesday 28 October.

Evan Edwards, 20 (09.08.95) of Paton House, Stockwell Road, SW9 admitted the manslaughter of Babafemi Junaid, 22, in February 2014 following a retrial at the Old Bailey. Edwards was previously found guilty of violent disorder in April 2014.

Police were called at around 17:40hrs on Friday, 7 February 2014 to reports of a man stabbed. Upon arrival they found Babafemi suffering from a stab wound to the chest. He was taken by London Ambulance Service to hospital but he later died that evening.

A post-mortem examination at Greenwich Mortuary on Sunday, 9 February 2014 gave the cause of death as a single stab wound to the heart.

Babefemi became the inadvertent focus of an attack by a group after a disturbance on a 155 bus spilled out onto the street.

He was not on the bus but was waiting at the bus stop when the disturbance spilled out onto the pavement at Stockwell station. As he attempted to get away from the fracas he was targeted, chased and attacked by the group.

During the attack one of the attackers was witnessed waving a knife, Babafemi fell to the ground. He managed to run to his car which was a short distance away but, as a result of his injuries, crashed his car into the back of a bus soon after.

The same group that initially attacked him then set upon him again opening three of its doors to kick and punch him until bystanders came over to intervene.

Babefemi's attackers then fled the scene.

Detectives launched a murder investigation and which resulted in a number of people getting arrested including Edwards who was arrested on Thursday, 13 February 2014 at his place of work.

Detective Inspector David Reid Homicide and Major Crime Command (HMCC) said: "This was a horrific incident which culminated in a violent disturbance on a bus and sadly led to a young man losing his life. I hope today's guilty plea goes some way to helping Babafemi's family move on from what has been an extremely distressing experience."

Edwards was be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 24 November for manslaughter and violent disorder.

With his conviction, Scotland Yard Police said the other arrested men which formed part of the investigation will no longer face any action as they were found not guilty on Friday, April 24 2015 at the Old Bailey.