Two teenagers are facing life behind bars after admitting the savage machete murder of a 14-year-old schoolboy as he sat on a bus in Woolwich.
The 16-year-old boys attacked Keylan Bokassa on the top deck of the 472 bus, moments after boarding the double-decker when it stopped in Woolwich Church Street.
Kelyan was stabbed 27 times with machetes and died at the scene, in an attack which sent shockwaves across London and provided another terrible example of the capital’s knife crime problem.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, the two boys – who cannot be named because of their ages – appeared in the dock to plead guilty to murder.
One of the boys had indicated in advance that he was going to admit murder, while the court had expected the other to plead not guilty and take the case to trial.
But the second teenager unexpectedly replied “guilty” when the murder charge was put to him by the court clerk.
His barrister Charles Langley KC asked for time to speak to his client again, before returning to court to confirm that the boy does admit killing Kelyan.
Both defendants also admitted possessing knives on the day of the murder.
“Kelyan, the 14-year-old victim, boarded a 472 bus and was seated on the back seat when he was attacked by these two defendants, each of them whom were armed with lengthy machetes”, prosecutor Tom Little KC told an earlier hearing.
“On the viewing of the CCTV, it’s clear this was not a form of spontaneous incident.
“The defendants must have known the deceased was on that bus. They approached him and almost instantaneously attacked.
“The two pulled out machetes and attacked the deceased who is either stabbed or attempted to be stabbed a total of 27 times.
“The defendants make their way off the bus.”
Kelyan, an aspiring rapper, had been on his way home from school when he was attacked.
Members of his family, including his mother Mary Bokassa, were in court to hear the guilty pleas, and there were audible gasps and tears when the killers admitted murder.
After the stabbing, Mrs Bokassa said of her son: “He was very kind and caring. He cares about people and had a good sense of humour.
“He was very polite. He was interested in football and was a supporter of Arsenal.”
It was revealed Kelyan had briefly attended St Columba’s Catholic Boy’s School in Bexleyheath, which was opened by former Tory prime minister Ted Heath in 1973.
He had made rap videos on YouTube under the name “Grippa”, and his mother revealed that Kelyan had spent time in care and also living rough.
“He cares about the people around him. He loved to have his friends around and when they were round he would want to cook for them,” she said.
“He was very articulate. He knows what he likes and knows how to express it.
“He was good in music. Anything he loves... he was doing to his best ability. He was good at football... and he was was extremely good at drawing.”
Fellow bus passengers attempted to save Kelyan’s life on board the double decker bus, moving him to a seat on the lower deck while the driver called 999 and they attempted to stop the bleeding. However a coroner’s court heard the 14-year-old died from one of his wounds to his right thigh.
The court has heard that one of the killers threw his machete into the River Thames after the murder.
Both boys have past convictions for knife possession, and one was serving a youth court referral order at the time of the fatal stabbing.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, adjourned the case for a sentencing hearing in July.
Both teenagers remain in custody, and now face an automatic sentence of detention for life.
Scotland Yard took the unusual step after the stabbing of releasing CCTV images of the killers as well as their names, as a manhunt was launched to catch them.
Judge Lucraft told the court he will consider whether the teens should be publicly identified again after they have been sentenced despite being under 18, and is expected to consider public interest in the case as well as the deterrent effect of full reporting of their crimes.
