A 16-year-old has been found guilty of killing a 15-year-old boy after admitting the act to an online friend while she sat with her grandmother in a restaurant.
The youth chased and stabbed former friend Pharrell Garcia in the heart in Stellman Close, Hackney, north London, just before 4pm on 23 July last year. Later, he told a girl he knew from online chats that he had killed Pharrell by “accident”.
He admitted to stabbing Pharrell but claimed he acted in self-defence with a multi-tool pocketknife allegedly brought by the victim. A trial at the Old Bailey found him guilty of manslaughter.
The court heard that after Pharrell collapsed in the street, the defendant fled and discarded the knife. Members of the public and paramedics tried to save Pharrell, but he died at the scene at 4.58pm.
As part of the inquiry, police spoke to a girl who had been with her grandmother when the defendant called about the stabbing.
Leading up to the incident, she said Pharrell had remarked that he could “beat him up at any time”. She was not concerned as she thought “people argue all the time”.
Though she was friends with both, she had never met them in person. While heading to see her grandmother, the defendant called her saying, “I’m fighting Pharrell today.”
She tried to discourage him, saying, “there’s no point doing anything to him”. Later, as she sat in the restaurant, the defendant called again, saying, “I think I just killed Pharrell.”
She recalled, “I didn’t believe it. I was shocked… He said, ‘I stabbed him in the heart by accident, but I was meant to stab his leg’.”
Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls KC pointed out that, based on her account, both boys had seemingly planned some sort of fight.
Following his arrest the next day, the defendant gave a statement saying he had “fallen out” with Pharrell.
He claimed Pharrell “always harboured a grudge” and was “obsessed with gangs and knives”. He also alleged to have footage of Pharrell threatening to “shank” him.
Describing what happened, he said: “He approached me on Tuesday and said he had a problem with me. He pulled a knife from his sock and went to attack me.”
“I was scared for my life and acted instinctively. He is bigger and heavier, and I had a broken hand in a cast needing surgery.”
“I got the knife off him and struck once. I was terrified and acted to defend myself. I never meant to kill him or cause serious harm, just to protect myself.”
Mr Fenhalls urged jurors to consider why the defendant stabbed Pharrell after disarming him instead of running away.
He said, “Once that knife is in his hand, where is the risk? Where is the threat? Where is the fear?”
He also questioned why, after stabbing Pharrell, the defendant chased him and only fled once the boy collapsed.
The jury deliberated for over 15 hours before reaching verdicts.
Judge Philip Katz KC remanded the youth in custody ahead of sentencing on 17 April.
