Schoolboy found guilty of killing Queen’s Park teenager in Marylebone

A schoolboy who stabbed to death an older teenager he claimed was trying to rob him in Marylebone has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Bilal Mirza 18, from Queen’s Park, was fatally wounded in the thigh as he walked through Salisbury Street on January 8 this year.

A 16-year-old from the same area, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the Old Bailey yesterday.

The court heard that the pair knew each other but the defendant believed Mr Mirza was planning to steal money and an iPhone from him so armed himself with a knife for self defence.

The pair met on Salisbury Street at about 10.40pm and during an argument the boy stabbed Mr Mirza, a City of Westminster college student, in the thigh.

He was treated by paramedics at the scene but died later in hospital from massive blood loss. The defendant went home but later handed himself in to police.

The boy initially claimed the knife he used - which has never been recovered - was a “little tool” of three to four inches.

But a pathologist said the fatal wound was caused by a much larger blade around five inches long, more like a kitchen knife.

During his trial the boy said Mr Mirza had been the one who took the knife to the scene, and that he took it from him and stabbed him in self-defence

He also claimed he had been trying to avoid the 18-year-old, but prosecutors said he would have known where he was and did not try to take a route home that would have avoided him.

Detective Sergeant Michael Hamlet from the homicide and major crime command said: “This case demonstrates the utterly devastating effects that knives can have on London communities.

“Bilal, a much-loved son, grandson and brother, had his life tragically cut short and a schoolboy is set to be sentenced for his death.”

The youth will be sentenced on August 20.