Teenager found guilty of knife murder of 16-year-old in phone robbery

A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a 16-year-old boy during a gang robbery in Haringey.

An Old Bailey jury heard 16-year-old Stelios Averkiou was stabbed in the leg when he stood up to two teenagers attempting to rob his friends at Lordship Lane Recreation Ground in summer 2021.

Kyi-Reice Sylvester, 18, of Flamstead End Road, Cheshunt was found guilty of murder. He had previously pleaded guilty to five separate counts of robbery.

At the same hearing, Leon Gruber, 18, of Amersham Avenue, N18, was acquitted of murder. He had previously pleaded guilty to four separate counts of robbery.

Both defendants were remanded in custody to appear for sentencing at the same court on a date to be confirmed in January.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Rawlinson, said: “I am pleased that the jury reached a guilty verdict. It is wholly right that the defendants are not permitted to remain among the community where they steal the property of others and pose a threat to everyone’s safety. I am confident that their sentences will reflect the gravity of the crimes they have committed.”

The court heard 16-year-old Stelios was sitting on a bench with two friends when the pair approached them at 2pm on August 1 and started to rob them. Stelios resisted and was stabbed in the thigh by Sylvester who was armed with a large knife.

The London Ambulance Service was called at 2.09pm and alerted police who found the teenager bleeding heavily from a leg wound.

Officers tried to stem the bleeding and medics from London’s Air Ambulance performed emergency surgery at the scene in an attempt to save Stelios’s life but he later died in hospital on August 10 without regaining conciousness.

As part of the investigation officers traced the movements of the mobile phones of both defendants, both before and following the attack and telephone data placed both defendants at the scene at the time of the robbery and stabbing.

DCI Rawlinson, added: “Tragically, another young life has been cut short by people who carry knives.

“Stelios’s family has been through hell, from the moment the attack took place, through his time in hospital, his death and concluding with the trial.

“It is my sincere hope that his loved ones find a measure of comfort in that verdict. My thoughts are with them.”

Stelios’s mother, Maria Averkiou, said: “My family has been ripped apart by an act of senseless violence. Stelios was doing nothing wrong. He was a 16-year-old boy with his friends in a park. I cannot begin to understand how one person could do that to another. Our hearts are broken.”