Recruitment Scotty Kouebitra, 22, was attacked with knives and a screwdriver and left to bleed to death in his front garden in Croydon, south London
A teenager and 21-year-old man are facing life sentences for their part in a Halloween night of violence involving masks and knives which left one man dead and two others seriously injured.
Scotty Kouebitra, 22, had been setting off fireworks with friends in a park on October 31 last year when he was chased by a group of up to eight men in balaclavas and hoods wielding blades, baseball bats and a screwdriver.
The part-time student suffered devastating knife wounds to his neck and chest as well as an injury to his arm.
In dramatic CCTV footage, Mr Kouebitra could be seen backing away from an unidentified figure who lunged at him with a large knife.
During the rampage, which took no more than a couple of minutes, two of Mr Kouebitra’s friends were also hurt.
Keith Hawker was stabbed in the leg and Adil Jamal Abdilahi needed 50 stitches after he was knifed in the stomach as he tried to get away on the back of a moped.
The motive for the attacks at King George’s Park in Croydon, south London, was unclear and it was suggested the victims were simply in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’.
The 17-year-old killer was wearing an electronic tag around his ankle which recorded when he arrived and left his home during the murder.
It revealed he only returned home to Wallington at 8.48pm – more than half an hour after the attack – before heading to a KFC restaurant.
When he was arrested on 8 November he said the murder ‘was nothing to do with him’.
But police found a bloodstained grey camouflage snood, bloodstained Nike trainers and a balaclava at his home.
DNA samples taken from the stains matched the profile of the victim.
Prosecutor Louis Mably said: ‘This was a futile and completely senseless attack.
‘The evidence does not reveal what lay behind it.
‘The evidence doesn’t reveal whether the three people that got stabbed were the intended victims or whether they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
‘But whatever the position there was clearly no justification.’
Rose told police he had been ‘trick or treating’ with his sister, who had dressed up in a pointy witches hat, and had nothing to do with the attack.
But the evidence proves he was one of the occupants of Jackson’s car and had been at the scene.
Jackson was cleared after telling jurors he thought he was just giving his friends a lift to pick up a moped.
Mr Hawker later told police he had been in the park off Gloucester Road setting off fireworks when he saw the group chasing Mr Kouebitra into the park.
‘Scotty was being chased by a group armed with baseball bats,’ said Mr Mably.
Two other men, Keith Hawker and Abdi-Jamal Abdilahi, were also stabbed during the rampage at around 8.10pm on 31 October last year, The Old Bailey heard
‘Scotty turned and stood his ground as if to fight and two members approached and there was a struggle.’
Mr Hawker was stabbed in the leg before he managed to escape.
Mr Abdilahi, who knew Scotty, was a passenger on a moped driving past the park when he was attacked and stabbed in the stomach.
Scotty was attacked for a second time in the street before staggering to the garden in Gloucester Road where Mr Hawker had sought refuge.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, a 17-year-old, who was on a tag for stealing mopeds at the time and should have been under a night-time curfew in a care home, was found guilty of murder along with Jahliel Rose, 21, of no fixed abode.
The pair were also found guilty of wounding Mr Hawker, 28, and Mr Abdilahi, 23 with intent.
Judge Sarah Munroe thanked the jury and said: ‘Sadly the facts of this case are far from rare in this building and we hear similar cases on almost a daily basis.
‘We are trying in this building and elsewhere in the city to try to discourage young people from carrying knives but as you can see, sadly they continue to do so in circumstances which tragically lead to the loss of life.’
Aaron Jackson, 26, of South Norwood, and Marcus Asemota, 23, of Bromley, were cleared of all charges.
The jury deliberated for more than seven hours to reach unanimous verdicts.
The defendants were remanded in custody to be sentenced on Wednesday.