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Man jailed for killing footballer | Man jailed for killing footballer |
(41 minutes later) | |
A man has been jailed for life for murdering a promising teenage footballer in a row over a girl. | A man has been jailed for life for murdering a promising teenage footballer in a row over a girl. |
Triston Burke, 19, from Croydon, south London, admitted murdering Oliver Kingonzila, also 19, outside a Croydon bar in September 2008. | |
Burke used a knife hidden in a trainer to stab the former England youth player eight times, the Old Bailey heard. | |
He will spend at least 14 years in jail for the "frenzied" and "indiscriminate" attack, Judge Martin Stephens said. | |
'Gentle giant' | |
College student Mr Kingonzila, who captained Barnet FC's under-19 football team, hoped for a professional football career. | |
Described by friends as a "gentle giant", he had fled to the UK as a refugee with his family from the Democratic Republic of Congo. | |
The court heard that he and Burke were friends but fell out when Mr Kingonzila's brother Christopher started dating Burke's ex-girlfriend. | |
Burke, who had twice before threatened Mr Kingonzila with a knife, went to the E Bar in Croydon with a small kitchen knife hidden in his trainer on 13 September last year. | |
(Mr Kingonzila's) death has left his family, his community and his friends devastated and bereft - he was full of promise in many ways Judge Martin Stephens | |
Mr Kingonzila at first walked away but Burke goaded him by saying: "Come on, do something," the court heard. | |
The footballer punched Burke in the face and he responded by stabbing Mr Kingonzila repeatedly, including twice in the face and once, fatally, to a major artery in his neck. | |
Prosecuting, Jeremy Donne QC said: "The defendant's use of the knife was so ferocious and indiscriminate that he actually stabbed and injured a friend who had tried to separate the two men." | |
Burke was arrested after a trail of the blood, which matched his DNA, led police to a storm drain where the knife was found. CCTV footage showed Burke fleeing the scene. | |
He pleaded guilty to murder at an earlier hearing. | |
Sentencing, Judge Stephens said: "(Mr Kingonzila's) death has left his family, his community and his friends devastated and bereft. He was full of promise in many ways. | |
"He is no more, because of you and because of the misconceived belief prevalent among so many of today's youth that carrying a knife can in some ways be explained or even justified." | |
The court also heard that Mr Kingonzila's older brother Herve, 27, died from a heart attack in February last year while playing football. |