Teenager jailed for life over machete murder

Romaine James was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Monday

A teenager convicted of murdering a man who was stabbed with a machete in a flat in Leeds has been jailed for life.

Saymore T Kwashira, 23, was found unconscious after being stabbed in the neck and stomach at a property in Winrose Avenue, Belle Isle, on 12 November 2024. He later died in hospital.

Romaine James, 18, of Reginald Mount, Leeds, was convicted of murder last month following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

At the same court on Monday, he was told he would serve a minimum term of 24 years in jail.

Police previously said James had been part of a group of three men who went to the flat, where Mr Kwashira and a friend had been staying with a woman who lived there.

The group had been inhaling nitrous oxide when an argument started between Saymore and James, the force said, with Mr Saymore subsequently stabbed by James.

Saymore T Kwashira was stabbed in the neck and stomach at a property in Belle Isle on 12 November

James was also handed sentences of two years in prison for possession of ammunition, 12 months for possession of a machete, two months for handling stolen goods and one month for criminal damage.

Those sentences would be served concurrently with the murder sentence, West Yorkshire Police said.

Det Ch Insp James Entwistle, senior investigating officer, said: "Saymore was a young man who has lost his life in a senseless brutal attack.

"What seems to have started out as a meetup of friends and associates has ultimately taken a deadly turn when an argument has turned violent."

He added: "More than one family has been ripped apart by James' choice to use the extreme levels of violence that he did that night."

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