Gabriel Stoyanov: Teenagers guilty of murdering man outside takeaway

Gabriel Stoyanov's mother said the killers had taken away her "best friend"

Two teenagers have been found guilty of murdering a man "for being little more than drunk".

Gabriel Stoyanov, 21, was fatally stabbed in the chest after getting off the 181 bus in south-east London on 4 November 2022.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Alfie Kibble, 18, from Bexley, south-east London, and a 17-year-old boy were found guilty of his murder.

A 15-year-old was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

The 17-year-old admitted having a knife and the other two defendants were convicted of possession of an offensive weapon.

'Nothing worse than this'

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Mr Stoyanov's mother Mariana Petrova said her son "wanted to travel the world and experience different countries and cultures".

"They took that life from him. They took a part of me too. They took away my son. My best friend," she said.

Ms Petrova added: "Losing a child is a terrible thing and anyone who has not experienced it cannot understand it, but I assure you that there is nothing worse than this."

The court heard Mr Stoyanov had been out drinking with a friend before they got on the 181 bus and he attempted to engage with the three defendants.

Prosecutor Edward Brown KC told jurors: "He was killed for being little more than drunk and annoying, perhaps very annoying."

The court heard he had flicked the ear of the 17-year-old and punched him in the stomach, but without much force, before being taken off the bus by his friend.

"However, nothing he did reasonably justified, in law or otherwise, being attacked and killed," Mr Brown said.

The defendants got off the bus two stops later and went to the home of the 17-year-old, where they armed themselves with weapons, jurors were told.

The 17-year-old had a knife, Kibble had a motorbike chain and the 15-year-old had a bottle.

They then lay in wait for Mr Stoyanov outside a takeaway restaurant.

When he appeared, all three teenagers attacked him, with the 17-year-old stabbing him in the chest.

Mr Stoyanov died the next day from a single stab wound.

The three defendants denied murder and claimed they acted in self-defence.

They will be sentenced at a later date.

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