Teenagers plead guilty to murdering 14-year-old Kelyan Bokaasa in machete attack on London bus
23 May 2025, 13:11 | Updated: 23 May 2025, 13:16
Two youths have pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to murdering 14-year-old schoolboy Kelyan Bokassa in a machete attack on a London bus.
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14-year-old Kelyan died shortly after being attacked on a 472 double-decker bus on Woolwich Church Street on 7 January.
He died after being stabbed around 27 times.
Keylan was attacked savagely moments after boarding the double-decker. He died at the scene. Two boys, who cannot be named due to their ages, appeared at the Old Bailey today to plead guilty to Kelyan's murder.
Kelyan, an aspiring rapper, had sustained a severed femoral artery and died shortly after medics arrived at the scene.
Relatives of Kelyan gasped and appeared tearful as they sat metres away from the dock where the two boys sat flanked by officers.
Reporting of the case was briefly delayed after one of the boys’ barristers had called for time to speak to his client in light of what had appeared to be an unexpected plea.
Later, the youth returned to court and confirmed his guilty plea.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC ordered reports ahead of sentencing on July 25.
At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Tom Little KC said the victim was sitting on the back seat of the bus on the upper deck when he was attacked by two youths both armed with “lengthy machetes”.
The defendants knew in advance of the presence of Kelyan when they boarded the bus and walked directly towards him, the court was told.
Mr Little said: “It is clear this is not a form of spontaneous incident. The two defendants must have known the deceased was on the bus.
“They approach him and almost instantaneously, the two of them pull out machetes and attacked the deceased.
“He is stabbed or attempted to be stabbed on a total of 27 occasions before the defendants made their way off the bus.”
One of the machetes was discarded in the River Thames but was later recovered.
