A 27-year-old Nigerian man who stabbed a father of two to death in a busy high street while his young daughter was in a nearby shop has been found guilty of killing him.
Abraham Omotoso of Tudor Gardens, Harrow, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey, Friday, 15 September, following a two-week trial. He was found not guilty of murder.
He will be sentenced at the same court on Friday, 13 October. Police were called at about 18:50hrs on Monday, 27 February 2017 to reports that a man had been stabbed in High Street, Wealdstone.
The man was taken to a central London hospital by London Ambulance Service but despite the best efforts of medical staff and extensive surgery, he was pronounced dead at about 02:30hrs on Tuesday, 28 February.
The victim was identified as Mohamed Al- Zufairi, 34, from Harrow. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the chest. Shortly before 18:50hrs on 27 February, Mohamed arrived in High Street, Wealdstone, with his eight-year-old daughter. He sent her into Poundland to buy some items while he waited outside.
It was then that he was approached by Omotoso. Witnesses reported that they had a short argument before Omotoso, who was wearing a parka-style coat with the hood pulled up, stabbed Mohamed and ran from the scene still holding the knife.
Luckily, Mohamed’s daughter did not witness the incident. On Tuesday, 28 February police were notified that the suspect could have been someone by the name of Femi Omotoso. At about 18:00hrs on 28 February he was arrested on the suspicion of murder under the name of Abraham Omotoso at Gatwick airport having just purchased a one-way ticket to Nigeria with cash.
Detectives carried out a number of enquiries, including reviewing CCTV which showed Mohamed walking with his daughter in High Street on 27 February before she goes into Poundland. It also shows Omotoso walking in High Street in a ‘purposeful’ manner before approaching Mohamed, fleeing the scene and getting in a black Range Rover nearby and driving away. Officers also tracked Omotoso’s movements in the days leading up to the murder and he was caught on CCTV wearing the same parka-style coat on two separate occasions.
Detectives also examined Omotoso’s mobile phone data which showed it was inactive between 12:40hrs and 19:09hrs on 27 February, which was not in line with Omotoso’s usual daily phone use patterns. The phone’s movement also matched the movement of the Range Rover that left the scene of the crime.
Omotoso remained silent in all of his police interviews. He was charged on 6 March. Detectives believe the motive for the attack was an ongoing feud between the victim’s brothers and Omotoso’s brother and friends.
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