Killer facing jail for stabbing CBBC star Carl Beatson-Asiedu to death outside Vauxhall club

 
Stabbed to death: Carl Beatson-Asiedu
1 May 2015
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A man who sparked a five year hunt when he fled to Nigeria after stabbing a CBBC star to death is facing jail.

Carl Beatson-Asiedu, who appeared in the BBC children's series M.I. High, was knifed in the heart as he left a London club with friends in 2009.

Killer Jeffrey Okafor, 24, admitted the murder to his girlfriend before sparking a manhunt by fleeing to Nigeria on his brother's passport.

He was eventually extradited and was found guilty of murder on Thursday after a trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

Mr Beatson-Asiedu, 19, was a university student and DJ who was well known in the club scene as DJ Charmz.

He had been playing a gig at Club Life near Vauxhall Station in south London, but was stabbed to death as he left the venue in the early hours of Saturday August 1 2009.

He was walking with friends when the group were approached by a gang of men.

An argument broke out and the TV star became separated from his friends and was stabbed by Okafor.

Killer: Jeffrey Okafor, who fled to Nigeria after the crime

He collapsed on the street where his friends found him, bundled him into their car and set off towards the hospital.

Police officers saw them and tried to revive the CBBC star in the seat, but he died from a single stab wound.

Within an hour of the attack, Okafor telephoned his girlfriend and told her he had been involved in the incident - saying "there had been a madness".

A few days later he allegedly told the same woman he had stabbed the victim in the stomach.

Later that day, when he returned home, Okafor seemed agitated and said "I'm going down" and "The Feds are going to be on to me", prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse QC told the court.

On August 13, police went to his home planning to arrest him and search the house for clues.

But Okafor escaped before police arrived.

He lay low for a time and then early on August 17 2009 he took a flight from Heathrow Airport to Lagos, using his brother's passport, the court heard.

He was extradited from Nigeria in November 2014.

Detective Inspector Alison Hepworth said: "Jeffrey Okafor fled the UK to Nigeria illegally under a false identity in the hope of evading capture.

"He lived a relatively comfortable life and even had the opportunity to study at university.

"There is no doubt that he was supported by others both in the UK and in Nigeria.

"In the five years he was on the run he was living a life that Carl should have been living but he was never afforded the opportunity to finish university.

"Carl's death has had a profound effect on his family and they have waited a very long time to see justice served."

Paying tribute to the victim's family, he added: "I can only commend them for their steadfastness and patience and I hope that seeing their son's killer finally behind bars brings some form of comfort to them."

Okafor will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.

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