Teenager jailed for at least 22 years after fatally stabbing motorbike enthusiast who named attacker in dying breath
21 November 2024, 14:15
A teenager has been jailed for least 22 years for fatally stabbing his motorbike enthusiast neighbour to death in the street.
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Sanchez Tate, 18, attacked his 21-year-old neighbour, Mohamed Abdi Noor, after he was blamed for knocking over the victim's motorbike.
The court heard how Mr Abdi Noor was stabbed in the chest during the incident on Tufnell Park Road in Kentish Town, north London, on December 11 last year.
Emergency services arrived to find Noor dying from the stab wound - with Tate spotted running in the direction of his home. He was arrested soon after.
Prosecutor Catherine Pattison had said: "Before he lost consciousness, Mr Abdi Noor said 'Sanchez' and repeated it - meaning the name of the person who had stabbed him."
The teenager claimed he had acted in self-defence, but was found guilty of murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.
On Thursday, Judge Mark Dennis KC sentenced Tate to 22 years behind bars for the crime.
Married motorcycle enthusiast Mr Abdi Noor was taken to hospital where he died early the next morning.
Ms Pattison told jurors: "The level of violence was out of all proportion for what was needed to rob someone.
"It has the hallmarks of targeted, if spontaneous, violence against a known individual, whatever lay behind it."
The court heard that Tate and Mr Abdi Noor knew each other because they lived in the same road but they were not friends.
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Mr Abdi Noor had a "passion for pedal cycles and motorbikes" and told his wife of an earlier incident allegedly involving Tate.
Ms Pattison said he had gone to check his motorbike in his estate parking lot and found it on the ground.
He asked some teenagers who had knocked it over and they pointed to Tate.
The prosecutor said: "Mr Abdi Noor told Mr Tate that he needed to pay for the damage - a scratch and some parts were damaged.
"Nothing else appeared to come of it.
"As it happened, Mr Abdi Noor took his motorbike to be repaired.
"The damage to the motorbike was still being repaired on the date Mr Abdi Noor died."
Tate was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years and was also handed a concurrent sentence of 15 months for possessing a blade in a public place.
