Two drug dealers who stabbed an aspiring lawyer to death in a case of mistaken identity as he returned from a trip to Waitrose have each been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.
Sven Badzak, 22, and a 16-year-old friend were attacked by a group of six young men in Kilburn, north-west London, on February 6 2021.
Mr Badzak was repeatedly stabbed after falling to the ground, while his friend suffered multiple stab injuries but managed to run into a nearby supermarket for help.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Rashid Gedel, 22, from Ilford, and Shiroh Ambersley, 23, from Wembley, were found guilty of murder.
They were each acquitted of attempted murder of the 16-year-old but both convicted of wounding with intent.
Anthony Orchard KC, prosecuting, said the victims were targeted in a “gang-style attack” over what the killers regarded as their drugs territory.
He told the court previously: “Neither victim was a gang member or associate.
“It appears they were the unfortunate victims of mistaken identity.”
Mr Badzak suffered four injuries, one of which was fatal, and the then 16-year-old victim suffered one injury to his back which was “nearly fatal”, Mr Orchard added.
Mr Badzak’s mother Jasna watched the sentencing online and in a witness statement read out loud, said her son was the “kindest person to walk the earth”.
She said: “For me Sven was everything, my reason to live, my only child, more than the apple of my eye, my love, my full support, my best friend.”
Ms Badzak added: “In the aristocratic but tiny Badzak family dating back since 1168, I am the first female born after 13 generations.
“Sven was my only child and was the only successor. The world needs more like Sven.”
The mother of the 16-year-old said in a witness statement that her son is “suffering mentally with PTSD, night terrors, flashbacks and has withdrawn completely socially”.
She added: “These people robbed me of my son and have left an empty shell behind, a damaged boy I no longer recognise.”
She said that since the jury’s verdict, a video of drill music has been uploaded online and that they have had to relocate and change their names “due to ongoing threats”.
Melanie Simpson KC, defending Gedel, said the defendant “clearly expressed regret” when giving evidence.
She added that he was placed in care at the age of 13 and was in 14 different care placements in the years afterwards.
Brian St Louis KC, defending Ambersley, said: “We suggest the defendant’s offending relates to his youth, his lack of maturity and lack of supervision.”
He added: “He has always expressed to us his deep regret that Mr Badzak died. That was never an intention that he wanted but he accepts the jury’s finding in relation to that death.”
Harvey Canavan, 19, from Maida Vale, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful wounding and Lior Agbayan, 20, had fled to the Ivory Coast and has not returned, jurors were told.
The remaining two suspects have not been identified, the court heard.
Michael Bromley-Martin KC, defending Canavan, said: “The unlawful act which he committed and he admitted to committing is to appear to be involved with others, to walk around the area of Willesden Lane with the intention of selling cannabis, knowing that others in the group would be armed with a knife or knives and being reckless to whether some harm, not serious harm, would be caused by one of the others by means of the use of a knife or knives.”
He added that Canavan was at the time a “very damaged, very vulnerable, very immature child”.
Judge John Dodd KC called the eight-second attack “brutal and savage and swift”.
He said: “Sven Badzak was clearly a decent young man. He was 22 when you attacked and killed him.
“It’s clear that he’d done absolutely nothing wrong on that February day.”
Gedel and Ambersley were both sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 27 years for murder, and 12 years to run concurrently for wounding with intent.
Canavan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for manslaughter and 15 months to run concurrently for unlawful wounding.
