Cruel fate: How angry teenager ‘stabbed girl to death over missing teddy bear’

A teen acted in “white-hot anger” when he stabbed his ex-girlfriend’s pal to death after failing to return a teddy bear, a court heard.

According to UK Mirror, Hassan Sentamu, 18, made the “calculated decision” to arm himself with a kitchen knife when he went to meet his ex-girlfriend to exchange possessions, a murder trial heard today. But after 15-year-old Elianne Andam challenged him for turning up empty handed, he was “disrespected by girls” and so plunged a kitchen knife 12cm deep into her neck, the Old Bailey was told.

Elianne was “aggrieved” on her friend’s behalf and acted after Sentamu failed to return a teddy bear after they broke up, prosecutors say. The schoolgirl grabbed a plastic bag Sentamu had been given which contained his possessions and ran, the court heard.

Prosecutor Alex Chalk KC today told jurors at the Old Bailey: “It was a gesture of solidarity… that cost Elianne her life. The defendant chased after her, cornered her, and used the kitchen knife to stab her repeatedly. He drove the knife 12cm deep into her neck severing the carotid artery and causing injuries that were unsurvivable.

“Despite the rapid arrival of the emergency services and intensive efforts over the course of nearly an hour, Elianne died at the scene. She was 15 years old.”

Elianne’s friend – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was “anxious to recover her teddy bear” after breaking up with Sentamu 10 days earlier, jurors were told. They planned to exchange belongings in Croydon, south London, but Sentamu turned up empty handed, Mr Chalk said.

He launched the “dreadful attack” after reaching “the end of his short fuse”, the court was told. CCTV captured Sentamu fleeing the scene at 8.30am on September 27 last year [2023] and disposing of the knife, the court was told.

Mr Chalk said he was arrested at a bus stop near his home by officers less than 90 minutes later. He said: “The defendant admits, in the face of overwhelming evidence you may feel, that he wielded the knife and caused Elianne’s death.

“What he claims is that he has a defence to murder on the basis that he has autism diagnosed in 2020 and that his responsibility for his actions is thereby diminished. Accordingly, he has only pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.”

However, in his opening to jurors, Mr Chalk said that Sentamu’s autistic diagnosis and his “disrupted childhood” does “not and cannot sensibly amount to an excuse, justification or defence to the murder of Elianne Andam”.

Addressing jurors, Mr Chalk said: “We will be submitting to you that whatever impact his autism had – and it may well have had some – it is nowhere near sufficient as a matter of law, medicine or of common sense to clear him of murder.

“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.

“Hassan Sentamu had a short fuse and as you’ll hear on September 27 at 8.30am he reached the end of it. And his calculated decision to bring a knife to the scene meant that the consequences of that outburst for Elianne and her family were utterly devastating.”

The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, told jurors that Sentamu does “not dispute the evidence that he killed Elianne Andam by stabbing her”. However he claims his Autism Spectrum Disorder was a “mental impairment that substantially impaired his ability to exercise self control”.

Graphic footage from passing buses was shown to the jury. In a series of clips, Elianne can be seen “falling to the floor and trying to get away from Sentamu”, the court was told.

Mr Chalk KC said Elianne can be seen “on her knees, with her hands towards another person. That person is Hassan”. He said: “Elianne struggled to her feet. Hassan is seen running away from the scene and in his right hand is an object. That’s the kitchen knife.”

Sentamu, from Croydon, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after he accepted inflicting the fatal knife wound. However he has denied murder and possession of a blade in a public place. The trial, expected to run until January 17, continues.

CULLED FROM UK MIRROR