Elianne Andam was allegedly stabbed to death by Hassan Sentamu in Croydon, south London, after he arrived to hand over possessions belonging to his ex-girlfriend, also Eliane’s friend
A teenager accused of stabbing Elianne Andam to death in Croydon, south London, was confronted by the schoolgirl and her friends on the evening before the attack, a court has heard.
Hassan Sentamu, 18, is alleged to have made a “calculated decision” to take a kitchen knife as he went to exchange possessions during a meeting with his ex-girlfriend, a friend of Elianne. A court at the Old Bailey heard Elianne, 15, had challenged him for coming empty handed before being “disrespected by girls” leading him to allegedly plunge the knife 12cm into her neck.
The court previously heard Sentamu carried out the attack in Croydon after he reached “the end of his short fuse.” CCTV captured him fleeing the scene at about 8:30am on September 27 last year and disposing the knife, the court was told.
The court was told Elianne and a number of friends had met Sentamu and confronted him on the evening before the attack. The girls demanded he apologise to his ex-girlfriend for “how he had spoken to her and treated her” after the relationship “soured”, it was claimed.
They were “riled” by Sentamu’s failure to say sorry and began to “tease him” and “referred disparagingly to his appearance”, the court heard. Jurors were told the girls had made a “clumsy attempt to prompt a reaction” when they threw water at him from a bottle and made reference to “acid”.
Prosecutor Alex Chalk KC said: “There wasn’t of course any acid in the bottle of water and you may conclude it was mentioned as a clumsy attempt to prompt a reaction from Hassan.” But witnesses claimed that despite the remarks, he remained “composed” and “showed no emotion”, the court heard.
The court was told that one person even joked that “tomorrow he would kill them all”. A one-minute video was recorded of the encounter and sent to police, the court heard.
Mr Chalk told jurors: “The defendant now claims that he was threatened by the girls with serious physical violence, apparently in an attempt to justify his actions the following day. He seems to rely on the reference in the video to acid to support his claim.
“You’ll want to listen carefully to what was said. There wasn’t, of course, any acid in the bottle of water, and you may conclude it was mentioned as part of a clumsy attempt to prompt a reaction from Hassan. In a nutshell you may feel it was more mocking than menacing.”
Mr Chalk said: “As they left, Hassan was splashed again. Again he remained composed. That restraint was noted by all present, including the girls. At least one joked that tomorrow he would kill them all.”
However prosecutors claimed Sentamu “brooded that evening on what had happened” and called a friend to ask if the encounter had “made him look like a ‘fool’ and a d***head'”. Mr Chalk said: “Hassan added that he wasn’t going to let this slide.”
The court was told that seconds before her death, Elianne had recorded a short video just metres from where she was killed. Describing the clip, Mr Chalk said: “Although indignant on her friend’s behalf, she was also exuberant, high-spirited – consistent with the smile that we see on her face when she took back the plastic bag.”
But Mr Chalk said “it was a smile that within seconds turned to abject terror”. Moments later, Sentamu cornered her near a low wall, “raised his right arm and rained blows down on her”, Mr Chalk said.
Passengers from a nearby bus told how Elianne “looked terrified” as she gasped for breath and blood poured from her neck “as if it were a fountain”, jurors were told. The trial continues.
