A Notting Hill Carnival Zombie knife attacker who stabbed a teenager in the stomach at last summer’s event has been jailed for 18 years
Rumarni Tuitt, 19, slashed at Kamani Spooner with a 10-inch blade after a fight broke out in Canal Way, west London, on August 26 last year.
The Old Bailey heard Mr Spooner, then 18, had spent the day enjoying Carnival with friends, he was unarmed, had no connection to Mr Tuitt.
Tuitt was convicted by a jury of attempted murder, and it emerged he had been caught with a Rambo knife at Notting Hill Carnival the previous year.
He was sentenced on Friday by Judge Judy Khan KC to 18 years in prison, and must serve at least 12 years before being released on licence.
“This was a particularly serious offence committed in the heart of Europe's biggest street festival, an event that celebrates the vibrancy of our capital city”, said the judge.
“There is no justification for carrying a knife of that nature in the street, far less into a crowded Carnival.”
The judge added that Mr Spooner is only alive thanks to swift medical attention he received at the scene.
The incident happened just a day after young mother Cher Maximen had been murdered at Notting Hill Carnival as she enjoyed the event with her young daughter.
Mr Spooner was attacked just before 8pm, when his stomach was “sliced open” by Tuitt and he was stabbed a further four times to his side and back.
“Towards the end of the day of carnival, he could hear shouting coming from somewhere and he realised he was somehow in the middle of it,” said prosecutor Mark Paltenghi.
“He then saw people fighting around him – three of them were quite close, they were throwing punches.
“He then recalls being hit in the back and upon looking at his arm, saw it had been cut, then looked down and saw that his intestines were hanging out. He put his hand over them and just ran.
“He cannot cast any light on why it was he would have been attacked.”
Mr Spooner did not provide the court with a victim impact statement and has refused to provide details of his recovery and ongoing impact of the stabbing.
But the judge said the effects are likely to be long-lasting.
Tuitt was stabbed himself in 2022, and says he started then carrying a weapon for his own protection. He has 15 past convictions, including ten for assaulting emergency workers.
At the 2023 Carnival, he swung a Rambo knife around during an argument with another male, and in June last year he was sentenced to a community order.
The stabbing happened two months later.
Acting Detective Inspector Sophie McLoughlin, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation, said: “This was a savage and senseless attack. The victim was very lucky to survive his injuries.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, including the victim in this case, go to Carnival to have a good time and enjoy the music and entertainment. Those who would choose to turn up armed with a 10 inch zombie knife clearly have no such intentions.
“It is thanks to the vigilance of officers on duty that day and the hard work of my team in the months since that we were able to build the case that saw Tuitt convicted at court.
“It is also thanks to officers' immediate medical intervention at the scene, as well as the specialist further care by paramedics, that we’re talking about a conviction for attempted murder and not worse.
“I hope the victim can now move forward and begin to put this experience behind him.”
Tuitt denied but was convicted of attempted murder. He pleaded guilty to possessing a knife.
The judge took into account his age and medical conditions included autism and ADHD while passing sentence.
