Fares Maatou death: Two teenagers guilty of murdering boy with sword

Fares Maatou was killed in broad daylight

Two teenagers have been found guilty of murdering a 14-year-old boy with a sword concealed in a walking stick.

Fares Maatou, 14, was stabbed to death by the pair, aged 16, after a confrontation with a larger group in Canning Town, east London, last April.

Julian Evans QC told the Old Bailey the schoolboy "offered no threat at all".

The two defendants, who cannot be named because of their age, were aged 14 and 15 at the time of the crime and will be sentenced on 27 July.

Jurors heard Fares suffered a single 11cm (4.3in) injury to the left side of his upper back, caused by the sword, which had been stolen from the grandfather of one defendant and passed to the other.

The then 14-year-old beat Fares with the sheath before both youths fled the scene, the Old Bailey heard. He died soon afterwards.

Fares died on Barking Road in April 2021

Prosecutor Mr Evans told the court the attack, on Barking Road, was caught on CCTV.

The victim tried to run away, but slipped and the defendants continued to attack him, the jury heard.

After losing his footing and as he was kneeling on the pavement, the sword was brought down on Fares and he fell on to his back.

He briefly managed to get to his feet once the attack stopped but he lost his footing again and fell against a parked car nearby.

Mr Evans said it was clear from the CCTV footage that "both young defendants acting together had attacked and killed an unarmed victim."

Both defendants claimed they were acting in self-defence.

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