Antoin Akpom Leicester stab death: Man jailed for life

Hussain Hussain was convicted of killing Antoin Akpom after a trial at Stafford Crown Court

A teenager who murdered a football coach on a Leicester street has been jailed for life.

Hussain Hussain, 19, stabbed Antoin Akpom, 20, with a kitchen knife after a confrontation in Kent Street last year.

Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said the killing was the result of gang-related violence and told the Somali refugee he must serve at least 15 years.

The jury at Stafford Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on a second 19-year-old, Abdul Hakim, who denied murder.

A decision on whether Mr Hakim will face a retrial will be made in the next two weeks.

The trial had earlier been told that Hussain, of no fixed address, stabbed father-of-one Mr Akpom with the 10-inch blade because he "feared for his life".

Antoin Akpom was a coach and former player at Leicester Nirvana FC

The jury saw CCTV footage from the Kent Street area of the city showing Mr Akpom getting out of a car to confront Hussain.

Mr Akpom could be seen running towards a gym before returning, followed by a group of up to nine people.

In sentencing Hussain, the judge said the stabbing was "offending arising out of postcode gang rivalry in which you were steeped".

And he added, whatever the failures of Mr Akpom, there was a "good positive side to him" and nothing could justify taking his life.

Mr Akpom's mother, Cheryl Armatrading, read a victim impact statement to the court and described how her son's murder had devastated the family.

She said: "The devastation of Antoin's death is beyond comparison to anything that we, as a family, has ever experienced.

"This has resulted in stress, sleepness nights, fear, anxiousness and feeling insecure.

"I feel pain like never before. It feels like I've been torn to shreds and my insides all knotted.

"Antoin's fiancee, Amber, has lost the financial support and sense of security of Antoin.

"There has been an even greater impact on his one-year-old son who will never be able to share those loving moments, guidance and counselling his father would have given him."