Youth must serve six-and-a-half years for fatal Christmas Eve stabbing in Bermondsey

A teenager has been jailed for the manslaughter of a young woman on Christmas Eve.

The boy, who was aged 16 at the time, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday, July 26, of the manslaughter of Kacey Clarke at her home in Bermondsey.

On Friday, November 1, the now 17-year-old was sentenced at the same court to six-and-a-half-years’ imprisonment.

Police had been called shortly after 10pm on December 24 last year following reports of a stabbing at a flat at Spenlow House in Jamaica Road.

Officers attended, along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance. They provided emergency first aid to 22-year-old Kacey, however she sadly died at the scene.

The subsequent post-mortem examination gave cause of death as a single sharp force trauma to the chest.

The boy was arrested near to the scene by police officers responding to the incident. He was known to Kacey but he cannot be named due to his age.

When questioned by police, the youth claimed that Kacey was the aggressor and had confronted him with a knife.

Some three weeks later, workmen found a blood-stained knife in nearby Rail Sidings Road. This was recovered and forensic examination found it to be stained with Kacey’s blood.

Detective Inspector Adam Clifton was one of the senior investigators who investigated the death. He said: “We were able to disprove many assertions made about Kacey, leading to the jury rejecting the defendant’s claim to have been acting in self-defence. I am pleased that we have been able to secure justice for her.

“Reducing violence against women and girls remains a key priority for the Met and I would urge anyone who is suffering abuse to reach out for help.”

Pictured top: A police sniffer dog works at the scene outside Spenlow House in Jamaica Road, Bermondsey (Picture: PA)