A 14-year-old, who spent an hour on the phone persuading her boyfriend to stab a teenage footballer, is detained for eight years.

01:54, UK, Saturday 06 April 2013

Boy murdered in Brixton

A 14-year-old "set up" her boyfriend to stab a teenage footballer she thought had "disrespected" her leaving him bleeding to death on a makeshift soccer pitch.

Cherelle McKenzie-Jackson called in her 17-year-old boyfriend Marc Anthony Tulloch to "punish" Junior Nkwelle for a slight she perceived he had done her as he played football with friends.

A court heard that she spent an hour on the phone persuading Tulloch to come and teach 15-year-old Junior a lesson.

Tulloch arrived at the grassy area at the Loughborough Estate in Brixton, south London, where the boys were playing and stabbed Junior through the heart.

Boy murdered in Brixton
Marc Anthony Tulloch

He bled to death on the pitch before his mother, who lived nearby, arrived.

Old Bailey Judge Richard Hone ordered that McKenzie-Jackson should be detained for eight years, Tulloch, was ordered to be detained for 10 years.

The judge lifted an order banning identification of the defendants in the hope that their sentencing would be a deterrent to knife crime.

He said the pair were cleared of Junior's murder after the jury found they had not intended for him to be seriously harmed.

Judge Hone told McKenzie-Jackson that it was only her age which saved her from the same sentence as Tulloch.

Junior's mother Stella said in a statement that she still could not come to terms with his death.

She said: "I didn't even know what was going on and I had no chance to help, or see him and say goodbye and tell him how much I love him.

"By the time I got to him my poor child had bled to death."

She said that her son was a kind, friendly boy, a fantastic footballer and a role model to his younger brothers.

Jonathan Turner, QC, prosecuting, said it was likely Junior and his killer did not know each other and there was no quarrel between them.

He said that Tulloch had been "set up" by McKenzie-Jackson, who was described as "troubled", to stab Junior.

Detective Chief Inspector Charles King said: "This death illustrates the terrible consequences of the casual acceptance that knives have a part to play in minor disputes between young people."

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