Three convicted for role in ‘barbaric’ postcode murder of teenager Jeremiah Sewell

Three people have been convicted for their part in the murder of teenager Jeremiah Sewell who was stabbed in the neck in a brutal attack.

Godfrey Madondo, 20, of Colegrove Road, Peckham, killed the 19-year-old following a “chance meeting” in Beckenham Place Park, Lewisham, in July last year.

Prosecutor Alan Kent KC had told jurors the motive for the murder “appears to be simply because the deceased came from Beckenham” and the defendant and his friends were from Peckham.

Madondo was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey on Monday and will be sentenced on Friday.

The court heard Jeremiah was attacked by Madondo as he sat in the back of a parked car. Jeremiah had spent the hours prior to the attack hanging out with friends and associates.

They were listening to music and socialising when the defendant’s car arrived at around 4.25am.

The reason for the attack is not known, but when Madondo arrived he approached Jeremiah as he sat in the car someone heard somebody ask where Jeremiah was from.

As he answered he was stabbed twice in the neck.

Madondo ran back to the car, which was driven away at speed. Jeremiah’s friends rushed him to nearby Lewisham Hospital but despite the efforts of medical staff he died a short time later.

Madondo was arrested the day after the murder, but refused to answer any questions about the attack of Jeremiah.

Detectives established the identity of the two women who were in the suspect vehicle as Khelsi Johnson-Davis, 20, of Barset Road in Nunhead and Leah Simmonds, 20, of Hamilton Road in Gipsy Hill – who both played a significant part in attempting to cover up the murder.

Simmonds had taken Madondo’s blood stained clothing and discarded it in a wheelie bin near her address in Hamilton Road.

Officers recovered the bin bag containing the clothing. When these were forensically analysed the blood matched Jeremiah’s.

Officers seized phones and this revealed conversations between Simmonds and Johnson-Davis about how to wash blood out of the clothes.

Both women were convicted for perverting the course of justice and will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on August 24.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Wood, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, led the investigation and said: “Jeremiah’s murder was an utterly senseless and barbaric act – the speed in which the situation escalated, and the fact that Jeremiah was sitting defenceless in the back of a car, offering no threat to Madondo, makes it all the more futile.

“From the outset Madondo has not made any attempt to explain why he attacked Jeremiah, let alone accept responsibility for his actions. They have left Jeremiah’s family wondering why their loved one was viciously attacked – when he could have provided answers; he has taken the coward’s option and kept quiet.

“Madondo was supported by Johnson-Davis and Simmonds who attempted to dispose of evidence in a futile attempt to cover his murderous tracks.

“Nothing will undo the catastrophic consequences of that night, but I hope the conviction of these three people will at least give Jeremiah’s family and friends some sense that justice has been served.”

Pictured top: 19-year-old Jeremiah Sewell (Picture: The Met)