14-Year-Old Yussuf Mustapha Sentenced to Life for Shooting Schoolmate to Death in Birmingham

A 14-year-old migrant, Yussuf Mustapha, is believed to be Britain’s youngest convicted gun murderer after he was found guilty of killing a classmate in Birmingham with the help of four other youths.

On Monday, the Birmingham Crown Court lifted reporting restrictions, allowing the identity of Yussuf Mustapha, aged 14, to be revealed after he was given a life sentence with a minimum of 16 years in prison for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and the murder of 15-year-old Keon Lincoln.

The victim, Keon Lincoln, was said to have been stabbed eight times before being fatally shot in the abdomen by Yussuf Mustapha, who came to England from his birthplace Italy, according to Sky News.

The 14-year-old was convicted alongside co-defendants Tahjgeem Breaken-Ridge, 18, and Michael Ugochukwu, 18, who were both sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years.

Kieron Donaldson, aged 18, was sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter, with a minimum sentence of eight years after he supplied the weapons used in Lincoln’s murder.

Detailing the murder, the West Midlands Police wrote that on January 21st Keon was talking with a friend outside of his house when a car pulled up, several youths jumped out and began chasing him, stabbing him from behind.

“A shot rang out missing Keon, but he stumbled and fell. Another shot hit him in the stomach and the pack surrounded him attacking with machetes and large hunting knives where he lay,” the police force said.

A local nurse, as well as his mother and sister, attempted to help the boy as he lay bleeding out on the street. Keon later died in hospital.

The presiding judge in the case, Lord Justice William Davis, said that the murder was “carefully planned and executed,” saying: “It’s quite clear that all who came from the car were party to the use of the gun.”

The scourge of teenage knife crime has increasingly ravaged British streets. Demonstrating the scale of the issue, St John’s Ambulance announced earlier this year that they would begin offering inner-city teens courses in how to treat stab wounds.

Commenting on the death of her child, Keon’s mother Charmaine said: “I would not wish this suffering on anyone and I can only hope that a day will come when the senseless murdering of children, will come to an end.

“I’m in a nightmare that I cannot wake up from. My heart is broken beyond repair. A piece of my soul has been taken from me.

“I see my baby boy’s face as he lay slumped on the ground struggling to breathe.

“I hear the words ‘his heart has stopped’. I miss my boy so much that it physically hurts.”

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