Horrifying CCTV footage showed the moment a previously convicted thief ran from his car and stabbed a man sitting on a moped…CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Oguzcan Dereli, 27, stabbed Abdul-Latif Pouget, 20, who had stopped at the side of the road near Farringdon station, London, at around 9.30pm on October 18 last year.
Dereli can be seen coming out of a blue Ford Focus estate with a machete as Pouget attempts to drive away. Dereli knocks him off his bike and stabs him in the thigh, before driving off and leaving him on the roadside. Pouget, who was a talented footballer and who his mother described as a “kind, respectful, polite and humble” son, was in critical condition for three days before he tragically died at 11.15am on October 21.
The 20-year-old had played on the left wing for Zaza FC in the Barnet Sunday Football League, the Old Bailey heard.
The victim’s mother, Kawsar Pouget, shared moving words about her son, who was known as Abz. She said: “He was a talented and gifted footballer who was a role model to those younger than him. He was young intelligent and full of promise.
“He brought warmth and laughter to every room. His murder shattered the natural order of things and has broken something deep within us. Every member of the family carries this loss. Our family gatherings now taken place at the graveside.”
In an emotional victim impact statement addressing the defendant, Abz’s brother Badruddin described him as “a young man who, unlike you, was loved for who he was, not feared for what he might do.”
He said: “Mr Dereli, when Abz was nine you had your first conviction. When Abz was collecting medals you were collecting bank cards and snatching phones from strangers. You were caught hiding under a mattress.”
“I hope that justice might speak for Abz now since you never let him speak again,” he added.
The perpetrator reportedly had more than 30 previous convictions on his criminal record, including a string of phone thefts in London, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in 2018.
The court heard his family of eleven were Kurdish asylum seekers who lived in a three-bedroom council flat. His father was unemployed and his mother was too ill to work.
Dereli denied murder but was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday, July 23, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 24 years. The defendant told the court he was acting in self-defence after a confrontation, claiming his victim had wrongly accused him of robbery.
Prosecuting, Danny Robinson, told the court that Abz had been sitting on his moped when Dereli came at him with a machete. Prosecutors argued Dereli had been trying to steal Abz’s phone at the time.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse said upon sentencing: “I am not satisfied this was a murder carried out in the circumstances of a robbery. We shall probably never know why you decided to get out of your car and run over and stab Mr Pouget.
“Some of the rumours were that you and Mr Pouget had an altercation that very evening in which he had got the better of you and your friends had encouraged you to go out and seek revenge.
“I am satisfied you had formed the intention to cause him really serious bodily harm when you stopped and got out of your car at speed, carrying that machete. Your actions caused incalculable distress to Abdul-Latif Pouget’s family.”
Detective Chief Inspector Lucie Card, who led the Met’s investigation, said: “My thoughts and that of my team remain with Abdul’s family, a much loved brother, friend and neighbour.
“A young man has tragically died in a senseless and brutal way. I can only hope that this sentence can go some way in providing a sense of justice to Abdul’s family.”
Police detained Dereli at the Easy Hotel on October 19, where he was with a woman. They were unable to locate the murder weapon but arrested him on October 20…CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
