A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal and unprovoked murder of a father near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London.
A Fatal Case of Mistaken Identity
Devon Brown, 30, was ordered to serve a minimum of 26 years behind bars for fatally stabbing Okechukwu Iweha, 46, with a machete on 7 April last year. The Old Bailey heard that Brown carried out the attack in the mistaken belief that Mr Iweha was the man who had stolen his bicycle and £10,000 in cash.
Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Anuja Dhir KC told Brown he was "motivated with a desire of revenge" but was "tragically mistaken" in his target. The court was told Brown had concealed a large machete in a sheath inside his clothes before repeatedly striking the "wholly innocent" victim on Worchester Avenue, leaving him to die on the road.
A Callous Attack and Attempted Cover-Up
Brown was accompanied during the attack by Leandro Kaienga, 29, from Croydon. Footage shown to jurors captured Kaienga kicking away Mr Iweha's shoe and retrieving his own hat from the road. Following the killing, both men discarded their bloodstained clothing and the murder weapon in a nearby wheelie bin, setting the items alight in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Judge Dhir condemned the pair for making no attempt to help their victim or call emergency services. "Mr Iweha was fatally injured when you left him dying on the road," she said. The victim's body was later discovered by a passing Uber driver.
Brown fled to the United States after the murder but was tracked down by the Metropolitan Police in Dallas, Texas. He was extradited and arrested in January this year. Following a trial, he was convicted of murder. He received concurrent sentences for perverting the course of justice and possession of a knife.
A Family's Profound and Lifelong Grief
In a powerful victim impact statement delivered to the defendants in court, Mr Iweha's sister, Ojiugo Mukasa, described the family's devastation. She said the "senseless act" had plunged them into "profound grief and anger" and represented a "cruel and inexplicable" loss.
"We lost our only brother, a child lost her father, our mother lost a son," she told the court. "The trauma of losing Oke and the agony of the manner in which we lost him has imprinted a lifelong grief upon our family."
Ms Mukasa directly challenged Brown and Kaienga, asking: "You have devastated a life and broken a family for what?" She also accused them of besmirching her brother's character after his death, an act which she said deepened the family's suffering.
Kaienga was given concurrent sentences for perverting the course of justice and possession of a blade. He was released from custody having already served the time on remand.
