A man has been jailed for 13 years over the death of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in front of his mother in their own home.
Romario Gordon, 22, was part of a machete-wielding mob who barged into Camron Smith’s house and chased him into his mother’s bedroom where he was fatally stabbed.
Earlier, they had hijacked a Toyota Prius minicab and unleashed a crimewave in Croydon, south London, as they looked for revenge for another stabbing on July 1 2021.
Gordon, who was 17 at the time, was later seen on CCTV fleeing from the stolen taxi and disposing of a large machete in an adjacent road.
His Old Bailey trial had heard that he had left the country two days after the killing but later returned voluntarily.
Gordon was found guilty of manslaughter and was jailed for 13 years.
Sentencing at the Old Bailey on Monday, Judge Anuja Dhir KC said it had been a planned revenge attack with weapons.
She told Gordon: “When you arrived at the address, it was your plan to cause injury and you knew that knives were being carried, some of those knives were large machetes.
“When Camron Smith opened the door of his home you and the others chased him up the stairs.
“He tried to hide in his mother’s bedroom but despite his and his mother’s efforts, such force was used by the group that you were part of that they could not keep you out.
“You all barged your way in through the door and went into the bedroom. Once inside, one of your group stabbed Camron Smith with enough force bringing his life to an end.
“Camron Smith was killed in front of his mother in her bedroom. I cannot think of anything worse for a mother to see.”
In a victim impact statement, Camron’s mother Audrey Johnson said: “On the morning of July 1 2021, my world changed forever when Camron was so senselessly and cruelly murdered in front of my own eyes. The feeling of loss is unimaginable.”
She told the court that she could not face going back to the home she had shared with her son after his murder.
“There is an emptiness inside of me due to Camron’s murder and his death will haunt me every day for the rest of my life and a misery that I endure every single day.
“The defendant’s decision to take the life of a human being with no regard for the effects it may have on others is unimaginable. The loss of my son is indescribable beyond words,” she said.
Gordon was the fourth defendant to be convicted for their part in Camron’s death.
Romain La Pierre, 22, was found guilty of murder and robbery of the minicab and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years at a previous Old Bailey trial.
James Olanipekun, 19, was convicted of robbery and manslaughter and jailed for eight years.
Jordan Tcheuko, 21, was convicted of Camron’s manslaughter and jailed for 15 years.
At an earlier trial, habitual knife carrier Gordon was cleared of murdering 17-year-old Damani Mauge who was stabbed in the chest and neck with a 24cm blade on a London bus in March 2020.
