Two teenagers have been convicted of the manslaughter and robbery of 18-year-old Hussain Chaudhry, who was fatally stabbed outside his home in Walthamstow while selling a designer jacket to his killers.
Marvin Ward, 18, of Ilford and Alexis Morris, 18, also from Ilford, were found guilty on Friday after a seven week trial at Wood Green Crown Court.
Morris was also found guilty of possession of a machete in a public place and the pair were both found guilty of maliciously wounding Hussain’s mother and brother during the incident.
Meanwhile, Anthony Nguyen, 18, of Belvedere, was found guilty of assisting an offender.
They will all be sentenced on February 4, 2022.
The court heard that Ward and Morris had agreed to meet Hussain on March 17 at his home address to buy a designer jacket that he had advertised for sale on social media.
The trio, along with two of Hussain’s friends, went inside Hussain’s address after Morris asked if he had a jacket in a smaller size.
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After initially appearing willing to pay for the jacket, Ward and Morris then got out knives and threatened Hussain.
Ward ordered a cab to pick them up, while Morris demanded to go upstairs into Hussain’s room. Morris began searching the home for more jackets, while Ward held Hussain and his friends at knifepoint in the family sitting room.
Upon hearing that his mother had returned home, Hussain went to protect her from the intruders in the family home.
After hearing a commotion in the house, Hussain’s two brothers came out of their rooms and managed to detain Morris. An altercation occurred and spilled into the street where members of the Chaudhry household were seeking to detain Ward who had attempted to escape the scene with the jacket in a waiting taxi.
During the struggle, Hussain suffered a fatal stab injury to his neck, his mother suffered a serious injury to her thumb and his brother an injury to his hand. Ward then fled the scene.
Emergency services were called to the scene and, despite the efforts of an off-duty doctor, Hussain died at the scene a short time later.
Morris managed to escape from an upstairs window of the property and then ran away.
Homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command carried out an investigation and through CCTV and mobile phone analysis Ward and Morris were identified as the suspects.
Ward was arrested on March 19 and Morris two days later. Morris, who was arrested at an address in Luton, had been helped to evade police capture by Nguyen.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Stubbins, the senior officer in the case, said: “Hussain’s murder was a tragedy that shocked the community to its core. His life was tragically cut short due to the actions of two young men the same age as him.
“It could have been anybody’s son. He was a hardworking student studying law at the SOAS University of London. He kept himself out of trouble and was selling some clothes to make some extra cash. Ward and Morris went purposefully to Hussain’s family home to commit a robbery and steal the clothes.
“They had made clear arrangements to facilitate this by taking large machete style knives, fake money and stalling things to get into a booked taxi. If things went wrong, they would happily and willingly resort to threatening or using violence. The circumstances of a designer clothing sale should never have resulted in his life ending in such a brutal way.
“This case demonstrates the devastating consequences of arming yourself with a knife in order to commit crime. Hussain’s family, who tried to defend and protect him on the day, have not only been left with physical scars, but face the huge emotional and psychological burden of trying to come to terms with his death. I would like to pay tribute to the family and all the witnesses who have attended court to ensure that Hussain’s killers are brought to justice.”
Meanwhile, the family have released the following statement:
