Kent teenagers bludgeoned homeless Romanian man to death

Two teenagers bludgeoned a homeless Romanian man to death with a meat cleaver and fence post then burnt their clothes to hide the evidence.  

Alex Macdonald and Charlie White, both 19, from Kent, had denied the murder of Razvan Sirbu but were found guilty today.

Neither was in the dock to hear the verdicts after refusing to leave their prison cells. 

Macdonald beat the 21-year-old up to 20 times with the piece of wood while White struck him six or seven times with the cleaver.

However, White claimed Macdonald later confessed to being the one who killed the Romanian, saying he repeatedly hit him ‘cos it was funny’.

CCTV footage showed them later burning their clothes in a park to hide the evidence. 

Two teenagers bludgeoned a homeless Romanian man to death with a meat cleaver and fence post then burnt their clothes (pictured from CCTV footage) to hide the evidence

Alex Macdonald (pictured) and Charlie White, both 19, from Kent, had denied the murder of Razvan Sirbu but were found guilty today

Charlie White

Alex Macdonald (left) and Charlie White (right), both 19, from Kent, had denied the murder of Razvan Sirbu but were found guilty today

Macdonald sought to blame a third defendant, 20-year-old Jimmy Buckley. He told the jury at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent that Buckley confessed to ‘finishing off’ Mr Sirbu.

White also described Buckley as swinging a lump of wood ‘like a baseball bat’ at Mr Sirbu’s head.

However, before their trial got underway Buckley was deemed mentally unfit to enter a plea to murder.

The jury therefore found he ‘did the act’ as opposed to guilt. All three will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Both Macdonald and White have previous convictions for violence and admitted they were wanted by police for failing to comply with court orders at the time of the murder.

Mr Sirbu’s battered and lifeless body was discovered in the Loose Valley Conservation Area of Maidstone Kent, by a dog walker on the morning of May 7 last year.

He had been living rough in a tent for about two weeks before he was brutally killed.

Mr Sirbu's battered and lifeless body was discovered in the Loose Valley Conservation Area of Maidstone Kent, by a dog walker on the morning of May 7 last year

Mr Sirbu’s battered and lifeless body was discovered in the Loose Valley Conservation Area of Maidstone Kent, by a dog walker on the morning of May 7 last year

He suffered 28 injuries in total, including multiple head, facial and ribs fractures. One wound ran down the whole of the back of his head down to the spinal cord, resulting in extensive bleeding.

There were also internal tears to his liver and around a kidney, and an eyebrow injury suggesting he had also been kicked or stamped on.

No bruising was found on his arms to indicate he had tried to defend himself, and a pathologist concluded he would have been knocked unconscious very quickly.

Cause of death was given as blunt force trauma with an object of significant weight.

A wooden chair leg, believed to be kept by Mr Sirbu for protection, was found on the ground between his legs but the court heard it was not heavy enough to be a murder weapon.

Macdonald’s confession to killing the vagrant was made two days later after they had fled with their girlfriends to a caravan in Shepherdswell, near Dover.

The court heard White asked Macdonald ‘Did you kill him or did I?’, to which Macdonald replied ‘Well, I killed him, didn’t I?’

White then asked: ‘Why did you keep beating him in the face?’, to which Macdonald answered with a sarcastic smile: ‘Cos I thought it was funny.’

The pair were part of a group known locally as the Tovil Boys, so-called because of the area they lived and hung around in in Maidstone, Kent.

They attacked Mr Sirbu, who came to the UK in October 2016 to find work, at about 11pm on May 6 last year.

The court heard White had gone out to steal a sit-on lawnmower, and armed himself with the meat cleaver to assist him. He described it however as being blunt.

Alex Macdonald

Charlie White

Macdonald (left) beat the 21-year-old up to 20 times with the piece of wood while White (right) struck him six or seven times with the cleaver

Macdonald, who had a screwdriver, said Mr Sirbu reacted angrily to one of two 15-year-olds also with them and Buckley that night urinating on his tent.

Both Macdonald and White claimed the vagrant became aggressive and brandished what they thought to be a machete.

White told the jury he only struck the Romanian two or three times to his shoulder and bicep in self-defence.

Macdonald also admitted hitting him ‘a few times’ to his body with the wooden post.

During their trial CCTV footage was played of the teenagers in a skatepark in Tovil, Maidstone, the day after the murder.

It chillingly showed the violence being re-enacted, as well as a hoody belonging to Buckley, from Coxheath, Maidstone, being burnt by White.

He denied he did so because it may have been bloodstained.

During their trial CCTV footage was played of the teenagers in a skatepark in Tovil, Maidstone, the day after the murder

During their trial CCTV footage was played of the teenagers in a skatepark in Tovil, Maidstone, the day after the murder

Blood was found however on Macdonald’s jacket hood which matched Mr Sirbu’s DNA.

Buckley’s DNA was found in blood on Macdonald’s trainer, despite Buckley’s legal team maintaining he was not present when Mr Sirbu died.

The court also heard that Buckley, who did not give evidence, made a phone call from prison in which he admitted being at the murder scene.

Macdonald, who suffers from autism and ADHD, denied when giving evidence that he ever confessed, and said he had been tricked into signing a similar confession written by White while they shared a cell at HMP Elmley in Sheppey, Kent.

It was while in custody awaiting trial that White tattooed a teardrop under Macdonald’s eye.

Such a tattoo is often meant to symbolise the wearer is a killer, the jury heard. 

Mr Sirbu’s mother, Marinella Gafita, had sat through every day of the trial, hearing through an interpreter harrowing evidence about how her only child was brutally murdered.

It was while in custody awaiting trial that White (pictured) tattooed a teardrop under Macdonald's eye

It was while in custody awaiting trial that White (pictured) tattooed a teardrop under Macdonald’s eye

In her victim impact statement read to the court she spoke of raising him alone, his energetic nature, and how he out-grew early childhood timidness to become a ‘more daring’ young man who loved sports and animals.

Mr Sirbu came to the UK looking for a job and planned to set up his own T-shirt production business, but his and his family’s hopes were shattered that fateful day.

Ms Gafita said: ‘We thought it would be the new beginning for him but it has proved to be the end of my loving son.

‘He was the apple of my eye and I would have freely given my life for him.

‘How can I describe the moment in which you find out your only child who is part of you has been found dead, beaten to death at a time when you know he has the whole of his future ahead of him?

‘It took my breath away, I was totally in shock and then I went into denial. I hoped it was mistaken identity.

‘I have been left feeling angry and hopeless, and that those guilty must be held accountable.

‘I feel torn and shocked inside, living in a place where there is no life. We don’t expect our children to die before us. It is not the natural course in life. It is inconceivable for a parent and defies the laws of life.

‘I am haunted by questions in my mind – how did it happen, why did it happen, did Razvan suffer a lot, where is he now and, more importantly, will I ever see him again?

‘I am crushed to the ground. I feel destroyed.’

Razvan’s grandmother Angela Gafita speaking to BBC South East from Romania said: ‘I just pray to god there will be justice. That he will get justice because he was an innocent child.’

His grandmother raised him from birth and blames herself for now rescuing him.

She said: ‘I never thought for a second he’d never come home, that I will never see him again.

‘My heart is shattered, everything is gone. I raised him since he was a baby and took him everywhere by hand. He was a really good child.’

CCTV footage chillingly showed the violence being re-enacted, as well as a hoody belonging to Buckley, from Coxheath, Maidstone, being burnt by White

CCTV footage chillingly showed the violence being re-enacted, as well as a hoody belonging to Buckley, from Coxheath, Maidstone, being burnt by White

Speaking through an interpreter outside court, Ms Gafita said she had no words for her son's killers who, she said, had also 'stopped her life'

Speaking through an interpreter outside court, Ms Gafita said she had no words for her son’s killers who, she said, had also ‘stopped her life’

His family have now turned his bedroom into a shrine in his memory.

Speaking through an interpreter outside court, Ms Gafita said she had no words for her son’s killers who, she said, had also ‘stopped her life’.

She said Razvan would have celebrated his 22nd birthday last Monday, January 8.

Ms Gafita said her son was educated, had finished high school, and would have achieved his dreams.

She added: ‘I raised him with lots of love and offered him everything a responsible parent could offer.

‘I taught him to love life, to work hard, love people and everything that was beautiful.

‘Razvan was a very friendly person who had a lot of trust in people.

‘I miss him very much and as my only child he will always be part of me.

‘I would like to thank the local community who have helped bring these offenders to justice.’



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