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Gang 'laughed as teenager was stabbed'

Reuters
Monday 11 February 2008 20:00 EST

* A gang of youths screaming "kill him" chased and stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death, the Old Bailey was told. Kodjo Yenga was ambushed by about 12 children, including two girls, armed with knives and bats, the jury heard.

Kodjo was left on the ground with a single stab wound to the heart when the gang laughed and ran away as passers-by tried to help, the court was told. Six boys, aged between 14 and 17, all deny murdering Kodjo in March last year.

Deepika Kohli was walking along Hammersmith Grove, in west London, when she spotted Kodjo running away. Sir Allan Green QC, for the prosecution, said: "Behind him was a group of 10 black youths. She noticed two girls as well. She could hear a few members of the group shouting 'catch him, kill him'."

Two or three members of the group caught him and appeared to stab the back of his jacket, before Kodjo managed to slip their grasp and get away. The group seemed "happy, they were laughing and smiling" and they ran off, Sir Allan told the court.

It appeared Kodjo had agreed to have a one-to-one fight with a member of the MDP gang, jurors heard. When the pair confronted each other, another eight or nine boys, including one with a bull terrier, arrived to back up their gangmate, the jury was told. The case continues.

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