A teenage boy has been jailed for the murder of Bartosz Wyrzykowski in Eltham.
The 17-year-old, who can’t be named for legal reasons, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday, 12 April and was sentenced to 17 years.
He had been found guilty of murder at the conclusion of a trial at the same venue on Thursday, 9 March.
Three other men who were found guilty of manslaughter at the same trial were sentenced as follows:
Yusuf Murat Aydin, 22 [02.10.00] of Eltham Green Road, SE9; 12 years
Jack Davies, 20 [18.10.02] of Westhorne Avenue; 11 years
Benedict Paul, 18 [11.06.04] Ellis Close, SE9 9 years
On 8 February 2022 at around 15:00hrs, Bartosz and his friend were out shopping for food. As they walked along Keynsham Road, SE9 CCTV captured footage of a black coloured Seat Leon pulling up alongside the pair. The car belonged to Yusuf Aydin and all four defendants were inside it.
Aydin got out of the car first and confronted Bartosz, the other defendants quickly joined him and also began pushing and shoving the victim.
The group moved down Lionel Road, and near to the junction of Westhorne Avenue, the four attacked Bartosz, who fell to the floor before he was stabbed with a machete style knife.
He was taken to an east London hospital where despite the efforts of medical professionals, he sadly died from a knife wound to the stomach that severed a vein. He had also suffered other knife wounds to his leg and hand.
At the scene, forensic practitioners found a second person’s blood, in addition to the victim’s. This was later found to be Aydin’s who had recently been released from hospital after being treated for stab wounds – it appeared that those wounds opened up during the attack.
The blood trail from Aydin led from the scene, back to where his car had been parked before the suspects used it to flee the scene. The defendant’s mobile phones were later found to have travelled together, following the murder, to an address linked to Davies.
The following day Aydin had the car professionally cleaned, inside and out, in an effort to destroy any evidence.
Witnesses would later tell police that while all four males attack the victim, the 17-year-old boy [who was 16 at the time of the attack] was the one who wielded the machete that ended Bartosz’s life.
A murder investigation was launched by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command led by Detective Chief Inspector Kate Kieran.
Davies was arrested on 10 February 2022 on suspicion of murder.
The 17-year-old boy was arrested on 11 February 2022, travelling with luggage to London City Airport – he was headed for Ghana.
Aydin was arrested on 11 February 2022 and all three were charged with Bartosz’s murder.
Benedict Paul, who was aged 17 at the time of the murder, never returned to his home, but instead fled to Kent on the day of the murder. After the arrest and charge of his co-defendants, Paul handed himself in on 16 February 2022, at Lewisham Police Station.
DCI Kate Kieran said: “This was an intentional attack, it was brutal and afterwards all four defendants took steps to avoid being arrested. They must now all spend time behind bars as a result of their actions.
“This sentencing will undoubtedly bring the raw emotions of Bartosz’s murder back to his friends and family; while his death will continue to have a devastating impact on them I can only hope that seeing those responsible jailed will afford them some sense of justice.”
