Knifeman jailed for murdering new father

Friday 02 October 2009 05:43 EDT

A knifeman who stabbed a young father in the heart as he was on his way to see his newborn son was jailed for life at the Old Bailey today.

Amateur boxer John "King" Abbey, 26, was with his three-year-old daughter when he was attacked at a bus stop by Charles Acquaah in January.

He died an hour later at the Mayday Hospital in Croydon, south London - where in a "terrible irony" his partner had given birth earlier that day.

Acquaah, 22, of Greenside Road, Croydon, was told he would have to serve a minimum of 15 years in jail after being found guilty of murder.

Judge Stephen Kramer told him: "You armed yourself with a knife in case you saw him. You put it up your left sleeve.

"On January 29, you took out the knife and deliberately stabbed him in the chest and through the heart."

The murder left Mr Abbey's children without a father, said the judge.

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