Hassan Sentamu, now 18, has admitted manslaughter but denies murdering Elianne Andam claiming a “loss of control” due to his autism – the trial at the Old Bailey continues
A teen murder suspect allegedly told his ex-girlfriend six chilling words before fatally stabbing her friend to death, a court has heard.
The former girlfriend of murder-accused Hassan Sentamu, now 18, told police how he turned to her and said, “I don’t want to hurt you,” just moments before knifing her friend to death, the Old Bailey heard today. The teen schoolgirl, who cannot be named for legal reasons gave a recorded interview to police after her friend Elianne Andam, 15, was killed in September of last year.
Schoolgirl Elianne was killed by Sentamu, then 17, who is accused of acting in “white-hot anger” during a row over a teddy bear. Today, the Old Bailey was played a video recording of Sentamu’s ex-girlfriend detailing how they arranged to meet to exchange possessions after they broke up 10 days earlier.
Sat next to another girl with a blanket over her knees, she told interviewing officers how she shoved Sentamu after he lied about having the stuffed animal. She said: “He was like, ‘Look, I don’t want to hurt you’, but like cos I knew he was getting angry but I didn’t know, obviously I didn’t know he had anything on him.”
Reliving the moment her friend was killed, she said: “Elianne ran up behind him as a joke and grabbed the bag as a joke then carried on laughing and then ran and Hassan got mad and said, ‘Oh, you know what’.
“He then lifted up his hoodie quick, pulled out something and I saw a big knife and I turned around for one second then I saw on the floor like trying to say stop basically with her hand out. He was there, like over her, bending. I turned around again and he was gone and then we ran, that was when we ran cos I saw people getting off the bus at the bus stop and everyone was like, shouting and screaming.”
Jurors previously heard how Sentamu plunged a 12cm kitchen knife into Elianne’s neck before fleeing the scene. In a Snapchat video shared moments before the attack, Elianne showed her frustration with Sentamu.
“We’ve come to collect the stuff from Hassan yeah, there was meant to be an interchange – she gets her stuff, he gets his stuff – he didn’t even bring the stuff.” Prosecutor Alex Chalk KC told jurors: “The purpose of the meeting was to exchange belongings. (The ex-girlfriend) in particular was anxious to recover her teddy bear.”
The court previously heard Sentamu as already armed with a kitchen knife when he boarded the bus from his home in New Addington, in south London, to the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon. Prosecutor Alex Chalk KC told jurors: “Having heard the evidence you may feel that the catalyst for this dreadful attack was rather more simple: anger. White-hot anger at having been disrespected in public by girls, both by Elianne on the day of the killing and previously.”
Sentamu has admitted manslaughter but denies Elianne’s murder, claiming a “loss of control” due to his autism.
The trial continues.
