Teenage killer who stabbed friend to death at party is jailed for 14 years - after jury asks judge for 'leniency'

Victim: Charlie Kutyauripo was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife
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A teenager killer who stabbed his former friend to death at a girl's 16th birthday party after a row over a tracksuit has been locked up for 14 years.

Aaron Gaiete, 17, plunged a kitchen knife into the heart of Charlie Kutyauripo outside a sports centre in Woodford, then stabbed him in the arm as he tried to get to his feet.

The two teens had been firm friends, but fell out after Gaiete borrowed a tracksuit from Charlie, 16, and refused to give it back.

Judge Rebecca Poulet QC, sitting at the Old Bailey, today removed Gaiete's anonymity as a deterrent against other teenagers carrying knives.

Sentenced: Aaron Gaiete has been jailed for life
Met Police

The jury at trial convicted Gaiete of murder, but in an unusual step asked for "leniency" in his sentencing.

Sentencing him to detention at Her Majesty's pleasure with a minimum term of 14 years Judge Poulet said she would not ignore the jury's request and said it was a "merciful" punishment.

Relatives leave flowers at the scene of his death after the stabbing

"I will take into account there was a background between you two boys and Charlie knew you had a short temper and he was making provoking comments during the confrontation", said the judge.

But she added: "It must be understood that taking a knife out in public whether for an offensive or defensive purpose is in itself a criminal offence.

"It is the experience of the courts that far from preventing an attack on the carrier of that knife, it frequently results in the causing of serious injury or in this case death and therefore the inevitable outcome of a very lengthy sentence for the individual who takes it out."

In a victim impact statement, Charlie's mother Matilda, an A&E nurse, said the family was "crushed, hurt, torn beyond description" after her son was killed by a boy she had previously welcomed into her home.

She said: "No mother or family deserve to suffer the way we have."

The grieving mother said Charlie had been brought up in a "decent Christian family and law abiding citizens" and raised to have "good values".

Both boys had attended King Solomon High School in Ilford and become good friends, but they had fallen out badly by the time of the murder, on January 9 last year.

"There is some evidence that suggests the two may have fallen out about something as trivial as a tracksuit the defendant had borrowed and was refusing to give back", said prosecutor Louis Mably.

The court heard the teenagers had been talking about having a fight in the run-up to the stabbing, which happened at a neon-themed birthday party which was supervised by adults.

Gaiete arrived at around 9.30pm and confronted Charlie outside the sports hall in Chingford Road, Woodford, pulling out the knife he had hidden in his jacket pocket.

Charlie was rushed to hospital but died within an hour of the attack.

Gaiete, from Norfolk Road, Ilford, denied murder, claiming he had acted in self-defence.

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