Teenager guilty of fatal stabbing

Boduka Louis Mudianga studied art and design at Southgate College

An 18-year-old man who stabbed a student to death during a fight has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Boduka Louis Mudianga, 18, from Enfield, north London, was attacked in nearby Edmonton when he and a friend became involved in a clash in January.

Kevin Lewis, of Edmonton, who was 17 at the time of the death, was cleared of murder by an Old Bailey jury after he claimed he had acted in self-defence.

Mr Mudianga's father Frank said the killing devastated his family.

Jamaica ticket

Lewis admitted the stabbing, which he said happened "instinctively" as he tried to defend himself.

He was remanded in custody, and warned he faces jail when he is sentenced later this year.

Mr Mudianga, known among friends as Louis Boduka, was an art and design student at Southgate College.

This was a fight in which the defendant was prepared to use a knife in such a way to kill or in the very least cause serious harm Michael Shorrock, QC, prosecution

The court heard how Lewis stabbed Mr Mudianga, who was not armed, with a three-inch flick knife after the victim and a friend got off a bus on 21 January.

There had been an initial shout of "That's him!" from the bus and in the clash which followed Mr Mudianga threw a punch at Lewis's friend, the jury was told.

Mr Mudianga died after suffering a single stab wound to the chest.

Lewis was arrested days later at a Northamptonshire hotel, on the same day that a aeroplane ticket to Kingston, Jamaica, had been booked in his name.

Michael Shorrock, QC, prosecuting said: "This was a fight in which the defendant was prepared to use a knife in such a way to kill or in the very least cause serious harm."

Kevin Lewis said the stabbing happened "instinctively"

In a victim impact statement, Frank Mudianga described how he nearly collapsed in "terrible shock" at his son's death and had to take medication.

He said the whole of the family was "traumatised", and his youngest daughter had received psychological help.

"The family only wants justice for a life that had been taken away before it had begun.

"It is my hope that this punishment acts to deter others from acting in such a way in the future, from carrying knives and other weapons, and to prevent other families from suffering in the same way."

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