Boy guilty over £1 pizza murder

Noor Kasimi was stabbed through the heart

A 14-year-old boy has been found guilty of murdering a pizza shop worker in a row over a special offer.

The Old Bailey heard how the boy attacked Noor Kasimi, 32, with a knife after being refused a £1 pizza one hour after the promotion had ended.

Mr Kasimi had tried to get the boy out of the Twin Star take-away in Holloway Road, north London, in September 2004 when he was stabbed through the heart.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, denied murder.

We were struggling for our lives Aabed Kashif, shop manager

Judge Gerald Gordon warned the boy, who was 13 at the time of the incident, he would have to be detained after a minimum term had been fixed.

Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, prosecuting, told the court on Thursday the boy took a knife from his pocket and threatened staff at the take-away after being asked to leave.

Mr Kasimi, who had worked there for five days, tried to get the boy out of the shop using a broom after he started lashing out with the knife.

Aabed Kashif, who ran the shop with his brother, said: "We were struggling for our lives. He was still attacking us. We were trying to get him out of the shop."

'Self-defence'

Staff managed to get the boy out of the shop but Mr Kasimi's broom fell to the floor and he was stabbed in the chest.

He died six days later in hospital.

The teenager handed himself into police the next day, claiming he had acted in self-defence.

Judge Gordon remanded the boy in custody for reports to a date to be fixed.