Keon Lincoln: Teenagers jailed for boy's shooting murder

Keon Lincoln died in hospital after he was shot and stabbed in Birmingham in January

A 14-year-old has been jailed for at least 16 years for murdering schoolboy Keon Lincoln, who was shot and stabbed outside his home.

The 15-year-old was attacked by a group of youths on Linwood Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, in January.

A judge at Birmingham Crown Court lifted restrictions on naming 14-year-old Yussuf Mustapha who was accused of firing the fatal shot.

Three others were also sentenced for murder.

Tahjgeem Breakenridge, 18, from Oldfield Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham and Michael Ugochukwu, 18, from Twyning Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, were both sentenced to life with a minimum term of 19 years.

A 16-year-old Walsall youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was ordered to be detained for at least 17 years.

Kieron Donaldson, 19, of Aston Lane, Perry Barr, Birmingham, was sentenced to a 12-year custodial term for Keon's manslaughter, having supplied weapons to those involved in the attack.

Prior to sentencing, the court was told Mustapha and Keon went to the same school and they had "appeared to get on reasonably well together".

A large knife was recovered from a stolen Ford S-Max car which the killers used

Lord Justice William Davis said Keon's murder had been "carefully planned and executed" using a revolver and a stolen car.

"It's quite clear that all who came from the car were party to the use of the gun," he said.

He told Italy-born gunman Mustapha, who had no previous convictions, that material before the court indicated he had lived "a decent life with his family" prior to the murder.

"According to the pre-sentence report he has been able at times to show a maturity in advance of his age," the judge said.

"Certainly there is no indication that he is immature for his age or that he suffers from any behavioural issues which might have led to the events of 21 January."

Lord Justice Davis said the only mitigating factor in Mustapha's case was his age "given that, for someone of his age, many years in custody will appear, literally, to be a lifetime".

Mustapha's barrister, Adam Kane QC, told the judge his client was from a loving family and had been doing well at school, academically and in sport.

Yussuf Mustapha can now be identified after the judge lifted a court order

Keon's mother, Sharmaine Lincoln, who had been at home when her son was attacked, called the convicted teens "heartless, evil monsters".

In a victim impact statement, she said: "I'm in a nightmare I cannot wake up from, my heart is broken without repair.

"I miss my boy so much, it physically hurts, I can only hope the day will come when the senseless murder of children will end."

The judge told the sentencing hearing: "She heard the shots. She went out to find her son dying on the pavement. Not only has she been robbed of her son when he was only 15, but also she had to experience the trauma of watching him die."

He added: "When a 15-year-old boy is killed in that way the first question will be why? That question has never been answered."

Sharmaine Lincoln says her "heart is broken without repair"

The trial heard Keon was fatally wounded outside his home in a "short and brutal" attack.

He was repeatedly stabbed by a group who chased him after getting out of a stolen car. He was then shot in the stomach as he lay on the ground, the court was told, and died two hours later at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Prosecutors said a Ford S-Max, which had a false registration plate, was used. It was later involved in a crash on Wheeler Street, Birmingham, where investigators found forensic evidence including a hunting knife.

(L-R) Michael Ugochukwu, Tahjgeem Breakenridge, Kieron Donaldson were all sentenced on Monday

Detectives previously said it was not clear whether Keon had been specifically targeted or attacked "by chance".

But Lord Justice Davis said the lack of clarity did "not mean that the murder of Keon was motiveless". He said: "It simply means that neither the jury nor I have any notion of what the motive was."