Rishmeet Singh: Pair jailed for boy's mistaken identity murder

Rishmeet Singh was not in a gang nor was he involved in any violence

Two teenagers who murdered a boy after mistaking him for a rival gang member have received life sentences.

Rishmeet Singh, 16, who had fled to the UK from Afghanistan after the Taliban killed his father, was attacked in Southall in west London in 2021.

Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, now both 18, used a machete and a Rambo knife to stab Rishmeet 15 times, their Old Bailey trial was told.

They were given minimum jail terms of 24 years and 21 years, respectively.

Aspiring police officer Rishmeet sought asylum in the UK in 2019 with his mother and grandmother, the court heard.

His mother, Gulinder, said her son had been raised "with so much love and now he's gone", adding: "I am struggling to understand as to how and why this happened to my baby boy."

Vanushan Balakrishnan had a recent previous conviction for possessing a Rambo knife

Sentencing the pair at the televised hearing, Judge Sarah Munro said: "This case is the more tragic because Rishmeet was an entirely innocent victim.

"He was described as a good person who would not hurt a fly. He was never involved in any kind of violence.

"It defies belief you two sought him out to kill him."

'I will never recover'

The trial heard that on 24 November 2021, Balakrishnan and Suleiman had set out armed with a 1m-long (3ft) machete and a Rambo knife.

Rishmeet, who had spent the evening with friends in a park and was heading home, saw them running towards him and ran back towards his friends to warn them. But he tripped and fell in Raleigh Road, where he was stabbed in an attack lasting 27 seconds.

In mitigation, the court heard Ilyas Suleiman's life had also been "wholly destroyed"

Following the arrest of Balakrishnan, police found a notebook containing rap lyrics glorifying the murder, the trial heard.

Officers also found a photo posted on social media of the bloodstained knife Balakrishnan used in the attack.

"His brutal and untimely death has taken away my lifeline as Rishmeet was also my registered carer," his mother said.

"I will never recover from this evil act. I have lost my husband and now I have lost my only child, my son."

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