Family express torment of stab victim son’s agonising final years

A man has been sentenced for murder after a teenager he assaulted died from his injuries five years later.

Now the parents have spoken out about their anguish and dreadful loss after years of suffering.

A vicious stabbing in south London left 17-year-old Jamel Boyce in a minimally conscious state due to a catastrophic brain injury.

Tyrese Osei-Kofi, 25, of Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, where he was sentenced to a minimum sentence of seven years and ten months in prison for the murder of Jamel.

A court heard police attended Triangle Place, Clapham, on the evening of October 14, 2016, where they found the young man with stab wounds to the chest and leg.

Jamel was treated at the scene by the London Ambulance Service but he went into cardiac arrest before arriving in hospital, depriving his brain of oxygen for a critical 14 minutes due to the injury to his heart.

Doctors concluded he had been left in a ‘vegetative state’ and he was transferred to a specialist long-term care facility where he required round-the-clock nursing care.

Osei-Kofi was first interviewed after handing himself into police on October 20 2016, following police appeals in which his father recognised him.

He was subsequently re-arrested two months later, and charged with attempted murder on April 13, 2017.

Osei-Kofi was convicted of grievous bodily harm and found not guilty of attempted murder following a trial at the Old Bailey in February 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in jail on May 4, 2018.

After five-and-a-half years of care, Jamel sadly died on February 13, 2022, at the age of 22.

A post-mortem examination held a few days later gave a cause of death as a penetrating injury to his chest.

Homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command then initiated murder proceedings against Osei-Kofi.

Jamel’s mother, Pansy said: “This stabbing turned an ordinary day in 2016 into a nightmare that we were forced to live through for five and a half years, while Jamel was left blind, unable to speak and severely limited in his ability to interact with the world around him.

“He fought tirelessly to survive, with us by his side throughout, despite such a bleak outlook, before closing his eyes for the last time.

“The impact of Jamel’s death extends far beyond his individual life; it has ripped through our family and community in ways that words can barely capture.

“The damage caused by this crime will ripple through all our lives for years to come.”

Jamel’s father, Patrick said: “I have come to witness the sentence of this man who took my son’s life, and I wish to hear him say he is sorry and ask for forgiveness from us.

“No amount of sentence can justify what he has done to me and my family, but I hope in time that somewhere in his heart he can find some remorse and ask whichever God he believes in for forgiveness.”

Detective Inspector Andy Griffin of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command said: “Jamel was a young man with a very promising future, known as ‘Smiley’ to his friends.

“He was described by those who knew him as an intelligent, thoughtful and considerate young man. The ordeal that he and his family have been through has been devastating.

“I sincerely hope that today’s sentence brings closure to the nightmare they have lived through for the last eight years.”

Pictured top: Jamel Boyce (Picture: The Met)