Crossharbour stabbing: Man jailed for murdering teen at DLR station

Muhammad Samir Uddin was repeatedly stabbed in the chest during the attack

A man who stabbed a teenager to death and fractured another man's spine has been jailed for life.

Hamza Hoque repeatedly knifed Muhammed Samir Uddin, 19, in the chest at Crossharbour DLR station in east London on 10 July 2020.

He then stabbed Andre Riley in the back during the "senseless" attack.

Hoque, 22, of Manchester Road, Tower Hamlets, was imprisoned for a minimum term of 27 years at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court.

During sentencing Judge Sally Cahill QC branded Hoque "spoiled, egotistical, power-hungry and evil".

She said: "There is nothing that came to light during the course of this trial which explains your actions.

"I reject your account your knife was for defensive purposes, as demonstrated by your use of it when no defence was needed.

"You have, in my view, not shown the slightest shred of remorse at any stage."

The two victims were discovered injured near Crossharbour DLR Station

The court heard that Mr Uddin and Mr Riley had a short conversation with Hoque to "make peace" with him when they saw him staring at them from the top of a staircase at the station.

Hoque then turned to walk away before he pulled a black kitchen knife out of his fur hood and stabbed them both.

Mr Uddin collapsed on the stairs, but was picked up by his friend and they began to run away. The pair only made it a short distance out of the station before the 19-year-old collapsed again as Hoque fled.

Despite treatment Mr Uddin died at the scene.

Mr Riley suffered a fractured spine and spent a week in intensive care. He still suffers with problems with balance, blood pressure, sleep and appetite, and was forced to move following threats, the court was told.

In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr Uddin's father Soif Uddin said his family's "lives faded away" when they found out about the killing.

He said: "Bearing the pain and anguish that our son is no more is too much to take. It has broken us inside out.

"My son laid sleeping, we could not even hold our son, we miss our son and not a day or night goes past that we don't think about that."