Mother of machete attack victim says ‘streets are bleeding' after killers jailed

Glasgow Times

26-07-2025

Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa said 'I want my mum' after he was mortally wounded in front of horrified passengers aboard the 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on January 7.
Two youths, aged 16, pleaded guilty to Kelyan's murder and having a knife.
In a televised sentencing on Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC detained them for life and set minimum terms of 15 years and 10 months.
Judge Lucraft said Kenyan's death was a 'senseless loss' of yet another young life to the 'horrors of knife crime'.
One of the youths in the dock of the Old Bailey smiled as he was sent down.
Bus CCTV image of two youths who cannot be named for legal reasons, who pleaded guilty to the murder of 14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa (Metropolitan Police/PA)
Outside court, Kelyan's mother Marie Bokassa issued a call for action to end the bloodshed.
In a statement read on her behalf, she said: 'To the Government and authorities. How many mothers like me, will it take? How many children must we bury before you act with urgency?
'Where are you? Where were you? I had no support from you when my son was alive and no support now that he is dead. A letter of condolence doesn't mean anything to us.
'Our streets are bleeding. Our cemeteries are full. Our prisons are overflowing. Pain and loss is becoming normalised.
'Our streets are no longer safe for our children. Public transport is no longer safe. Schools are no longer safe. You have lost control of London.'
Marie Bokassa, centre, listens as Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee, from Scotland Yard, who led investigation into the death of her son Kelyan, speaks outside the Old Bailey (Rosie Shead/PA)
She added: 'To the young people who carry knives, I beg you to stop before you raise up blades. Think of your own mother. Think of the mothers who will cry every night, like I do, will scream into her pillow, who will walk past her child's empty room and collapse with grief.
'Don't let a moment of anger steal your future. Don't let the streets raise you in a way your mother never would. There is no power in death, there is only loss.'
Earlier, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said Kelyan had boarded the 472 bus just after 2pm to attend an appointment at the Youth Justice Centre in Woolwich.
CCTV showed Kelyan on the back seat of the top deck, with a knife in the waistband of his trousers.
Ms Heer said the teenager looked around and out of the windows before taking his seat 'giving every impression that he was concerned for his safety'.
The defendants, who cannot be named, boarded the bus 20 minutes later each armed with identical machetes hidden in their clothes.
The pair walked towards Kelyan 'with purpose' and withdrew their blades before immediately stabbing him without uttering a word to their victim.
Ms Heer said: 'Since Kelyan Bokassa was seated on the back seat, he was cornered, unable to escape as the defendants repeatedly thrust their knives towards him, smiling as they did so.'
The attack lasted around 14 seconds, with the youths thrusting the machetes towards Kelyan 27 times.
Ms Heer went on: 'Kelyan Bokassa had no time to reach for his own knife, which remained in his trousers, and instead tried in vain to protect himself with his school bag.
'There were several other passengers on the top deck who fled in panic when they realised what was happening. They describe hearing intense screaming from the back of the bus and the victim shouting, 'Help. Help. I've been stabbed'.
'They describe both defendants making quick, forceful movements towards Kelyan Bokassa as he tried to defend himself.'
The bus driver activated his emergency alarm just before 2.27pm and the defendants fled when the vehicle stopped at Woolwich Ferry.
Kelyan stumbled down the aisle to the stairs, where another passenger went to help him.
The boy was heard to say: 'Take me to my mum's. I want my mum,' before his legs buckled, bleeding heavily from a wound to the leg.
Members of the public flagged down a passing police car and officers found Kelyan had collapsed and his body was limp.
Despite attempts to save him, Kelyan died at the scene at 3.23pm.
One of the machetes was thrown into the River Thames, but was later recovered by police.
The defendants were quickly identified from CCTV on the bus and arrested.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Ms Bokassa said: 'At least my son is at peace, and those two kids are going to have a really tough time.
'I ask myself what has happened to those two boys that has resulted in that terrible act of violence, and I cannot imagine how can they be so angry.
'What they did was horrific and I do not know what has led them to do this, and maybe I will never.'
The court heard both defendants have previous convictions for carrying blades in public.
Floral tributes are left next to a bus stop on Woolwich Church Road in Woolwich, south London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Samantha Yelland, senior crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: 'This was a savage and sustained attack on a 14-year-old boy which was carried out in broad daylight on a busy bus.
'We worked closely with police and were thankfully helped by clear CCTV evidence which both placed the defendants on the bus and showed one of them discarding the machete. They had little choice but to plead guilty.'
Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee, from Scotland Yard, said it had been a 'deeply troubling' case.
She said: 'The harsh reality in London is that violence disproportionately affects young black men and boys.
'The fact we're seeing so many teenagers like Kelyan die should be at the forefront of the minds of every politician, every policy maker and everyone who wants better for children growing up in London.
'Without this collective effort, we won't be able to tackle knife crime in its entirety.
'And while I am pleased that Keylan's mother, Marie, has been spared the emotional turmoil of a trial, I know that she still desperately seeks to understand why three young lives could be considered so disposable.