A father has pleaded for his son’s killers to be finally caught five years on as police offered £20,000 for information leading to them being caught.
Sami Sidhom, 18, was stabbed to death near his home in Forest Gate as he walked back from seeing West Ham play Stoke City at the London Stadium in Stratford on April 16, 2018.
Detectives have pursued a number of lines of enquiry since 2018, resulting in 10 arrests, but so far nobody has been charged.
An anonymous person has provided tip-offs to police, but they have never spoken directly to officers.
In an emotional appeal for information, Sami’s father, Samer, said: “My son’s life was taken away for no reason whatsoever. It’s so cruel, he did nothing wrong. If you’re out there, and you know who these people are, I plead with you to do the right thing.
“Sammy didn’t deserve this and we need to have justice. If these killers continue walking free, they can just do it to someone else.”
An inquest last year heard the teenager was set upon “criminally, wickedly and maliciously” by up to four men.
Detectives said they believed members of the community in Newham knew who was responsible for Sami’s death.
Met Detective Chief Inspector Mark Rogers said: “I understand how daunting it can be to come forward after such a terrible crime, but, hopefully now some time has passed, someone will be brave enough to come forward and tell us what they know.
“Sami’s family have been devastated by the senseless loss of their son. They have had only questions, but no justice.
“I urge anyone who has information about Sami’s murder, but in particular the person who has reached out anonymously before to provide key information, to contact us.”
In a previous Crimewatch appeal, police suggested that the history and law student may have been killed in a case of mistaken identity.
After leaving the game in Stratford, Sami took a bus to Romford Road and then began to walk home. CCTV shows that as he began to turn into Chestnut Avenue, yards from his home, a silver car approached the end of the road.
The footage then showed three men chasing Sami back into Chestnut Avenue followed by the same silver car.
Following the attack, the silver car and another car were seen to drive off.
