Two teenage brothers have been convicted of murdering 29-year-old Kalabe Legesse, who was stabbed to death in Peckham Rye Park in 2022.
Nah’shun Thomas, 20, and Nyran Thomas, 17, both of Bournemouth Road, Peckham, appeared at Croydon Crown Court today.
Nah’shun was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years and three months. Nyran was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 19 years and ten months in prison.
Both were previously convicted following trial at the same court on January 5, and were remanded in custody to await sentencing.
The judge, His Honour Justice Gower, lifted reporting restrictions in relation to Nyran, who is under 18 years old.
A spokesman for Mr Legesse’s family said: “Nothing can bring back our son Kalabe.
“He was doing nothing wrong on the night that he was killed and we will never understand why he was murdered over a mobile phone.
“The defendants have not shown any remorse for what they did to him. We have recently passed the anniversary of his death, Christmas and New Year for us will never be the same again.
“Kalabe was loved by everyone he met and had an exciting future ahead of him. He will never be able to have a family of his own, and our family will never have him back.
“We are grateful to the investigation team for their hard work for over a year to bring these people to justice.”
On 30 December 2022, at around 8pm, Mr Legesse, who was from Southwark, was sitting on a bench at Peckham Rye Park when the defendants approached him on bikes, and threatened him in an attempt to steal his mobile phone.
During the robbery, Mr Legesse was stabbed once in the chest. The defendants left him collapsed on the park bench, where, despite the efforts of officers and medics, he died.
A post-mortem examination determined that the cause of death was a haemorrhage, resulting from a single stab wound to the heart.
When Mr Legesse was approached by the defendants he had been talking on the phone to a friend. But, when emergency services arrived the phone was gone.
The friend he had been talking to later told police that he heard the suspects saying “Where are you from?’ and ‘What have you got on you?”
As part of their investigation, cops searched hundreds of hours of CCTV to retrace the suspects’ movements to their home addresses.
Both were arrested on suspicion of murder on January 19, 2023.
Enquiries found the defendants had committed two other mobile phone robberies shortly before Mr Legesse’s murder.
In the early stages of the trial both defendants pleaded guilty to both of those robberies.
When officers searched the home address of Nyran Thomas, they found, in his grandmother’s bedroom, a sheathed black handled hunting knife that was wrapped in a black coat.
Forensic examination found traces of Kalabe blood inside the sheath.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Guttridge said: “My thoughts today are with Kalabe Legesse’s family as they continue to come to terms with their loss.
“It is my sincere wish that they find some comfort in knowing that justice has been served.”
Pictured top: Nah’shun Thomas and Nyran Thomas (Picture: The Met)
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