Life term for neck-stab teenager

Bright had admitted manslaughter but denied murdering Mr Nassan

A teenager has been jailed for life for murdering a man after he had been lecherous towards her and her friends.

At Bristol Crown Court, Justice Roderick Evans said he hoped her minimum 12 year term would deter other teenagers from carrying knives.

April Bright was 17 when she stabbed Mohammed Muse Nassan, 35, in the neck after St Pauls Carnival in the city on 16 September 2007.

CCTV captured her gesticulating over his body, saying, "Let him die".

Bright, now 18, of Wilder Street, St Pauls, stabbed Mr Hassan in the neck in an alleyway next to the Criterion pub in Ashley Road at about 0245 BST.

Earlier in the evening, Mr Hassan and his Somalian friends had made lecherous and inappropriate comments towards Bright and her friends in a takeaway next door to the pub, the court heard.

Remorse expressed

Sentencing, the judge said: "The carrying of knives is a matter of grave public concern and the presence of knives on our streets in clubs, pubs and in the hands of young people of your age so often leads to serious injury or in this case death.

"A slight, an insult, an inappropriate behaviour, real or imagined, so often leads to the production of a knife and to the consequences in this case."

Bright, who had admitted manslaughter but had denied murder, was convicted by a jury.

She wrote a letter to the judge, saying she had not meant to kill Mr Hassan.

In mitigation, Michael Fitton QC admitted this was the first time she had expressed remorse over the killing.

During the case the jury was shown CCTV images of Bright and Mr Hassan as they went in and out of the Criterion pub amid swarms of carnival-goers in fancy dress.

The CCTV also caught Mr Hassan, moments after he was stabbed in the alley, stumbling through the party-goers, clutching his neck and collapsing on the steps outside the pub.