Preston Park stabbing: Two jailed over ‘ferocious attack’ Wembley man will ‘never’ recover from
Keiano Gooden-Joseph. Picture: Met Police - Credit: Archant
Two men who carried out a “ferocious attack” on a man in Preston Park last July have been jailed.
Police respond to multiple stabbing in Preston Park. Picture: @MPSPreston - Credit: Archant
Wembley man Douglas Sepouo, 21, remains in hospital unable to communicate or feed himself nine months after the attack.
On March 31 Keiano Gooden-Joseph, 19, from Harrow Road in Westminster, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars for his role in the attack, while a 17 year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons will face 11 years in jail.
Both were found guilty of wounding with intent, while Gooden-Joseph was also given an 18 month sentence for possession of a bladed article.
The defendants had been on trial charged with attempted murder, but were found not guilty of that offence.
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They were sentenced over telephone from the Old Bailey.
CCTV showed the pair followed Mr Sepouo before chasing him into Preston Park, where he was attacked in the middle of a summer afternoon and in front of children and young families.
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One witness told the police how the men had “hacked” at Mr Sepouo, who was screaming
Both defendants were armed with machete type knives and they both followed Douglas Sepouo into Preston Park.
Det Insp Jamie Stevenson from the Met’s Specialist Crime North division, said: “This appalling attack has left a young man with catastrophic injuries from which he will never fully recover.
“His family have been left devastated and struggling to come to terms with the reality of Douglas’ injuries; I can only hope that the conviction of the persons responsible will help them in some small way.”
Det Insp Stevenson also thanked the members of the community who attempted to help Mr Sepouo as he lay injured.
He urged the public to help the police to tackle violent crime, saying: “We need the support of our communities to tackle violent crime and we urge anyone who may have information about those carrying weapons to tell us about it, so we can tackle violence together and protect the lives of young people.”
The senior officer also called on those worried about interacting with the police to contact Crimestoppers or Fearless.org anonymously.
