Five years for refugee killing

Kayser Osman was stabbed through the heart

A 15-year-old boy was told off by a judge who sentenced him to five years detention for killing a Somalian refugee.

Kayser Osman, 15, was stabbed through the heart outside a youth centre in Church End, Harlesden, London, on 12 March.

The boy, who admitted stabbing Kayser, was cleared of his murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

Judge Mrs Justice Rafferty asked the youth to approach the bench at the Old Bailey and told him: "It was a perfectly dreadful thing that you did."

I very much hope you won't have to go into an adult prison

Judge Mrs Justice Rafferty

She said she would sentence the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as if he had "pleaded guilty to manslaughter right at the beginning".

Judge Rafferty added: "I very much hope you won't have to go into an adult prison.

"Who do you think that depends on?"

He replied almost inaudibly: "Me."

An earlier hearing was told the boy was 14 when he stabbed Kayser with an eight-inch kitchen knife during a "playground scuffle".

His 11-year-old cousin became one of the youngest defendants ever to stand trial for murder for fetching the eight-inch blade. But he was cleared of all charges by the jury.

The 15-year-old will be returned to secure accommodation in Essex before it is decided where he will spend the rest of his sentence.

After the verdict was announced the parents of Kayser Osman left court quickly.