Two teenagers are facing life behind bars after admitting that they murdered a 14-year-old schoolboy as he sat on a bus in Woolwich.
The 16-year-old boys attacked Keylan Bokassa on the top deck of the 472 bus, moments after boarding the double-decker when it stopped in Woolwich Church Street.
Kelyan was stabbed 27 times with machetes and died at the scene.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, the two boys – who cannot be named because of their ages – appeared in the dock to plead guilty to murder.
One of the boys indicated in advance that he was going to admit murder, while the court had expected the other to take the case to trial.
But the second teenager unexpectedly replied “guilty” when the murder charge was put to him by the court clerk.
His barrister Charles Langley KC asked for time to speak to his client again, before returning to court to confirm that the boy does admit to killing Kelyan.
Both defendants also admitted to possessing knives on the day of the murder.
“Kelyan, the 14-year-old victim, boarded a 472 bus and was seated on the back seat when he was attacked by these two defendants, each of them whom were armed with lengthy machetes”, prosecutor Tom Little KC told an earlier hearing.
“On the viewing of the CCTV, it’s clear this was not a form of spontaneous incident.
“The defendants must have known the deceased was on that bus. They approached him and almost instantaneously attacked.
“The two pulled out machetes and attacked the deceased who is either stabbed or attempted to be stabbed a total of 27 times.
“The defendants make their way off the bus.”
Members of his family, including his mother Mary Bokassa, were in court to hear the guilty pleas, and there were audible gasps and tears when the killers admitted to the murder.
Fellow bus passengers attempted to save Kelyan’s life on board the double decker bus, moving him to a seat on the lower deck while the driver called 999 and they attempted to stop the bleeding. However a coroner’s court heard the 14-year-old died from one of his wounds to his right thigh.
The court has heard that one of the killers threw his machete into the River Thames after the murder.
Both boys had past convictions for knife possession, and one was serving a youth court referral order at the time of the murder.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, adjourned the case for a sentencing hearing in July.
Both teenagers remain in custody, and will face an automatic sentence of detention for life.
Scotland Yard took the unusual step after the stabbing of releasing CCTV images of the killers as well as their names, as a manhunt was launched to catch them.
Judge Lucraft told the court he will consider whether the teens should be publicly identified again after they have been sentenced despite being under 18, and is expected to consider public interest in the case as well as the deterrent effect of full reporting of their crimes.
Kelyan was a talented individual with an interest in football.
He also was an aspiring rapper who’d perform under the name “Grippa”.
