Teenager Jailed For Jimmy Mizen Murder

A teenager has been jailed for life for the murder of schoolboy Jimmy Mizen.

Nineteen-year-old Jake Fahri was today told he must serve a minimum of 14-years after being convicted of killing the 16-year-old in a south London bakery last May.

Fahri, from Lee, told the Old Bailey he had acted in self-defence when a fight broke out between himself, Jimmy and Jimmy's brother.

The court heard that Jimmy and Fahri had been rowing in the Three Cooks bakery when Fahri grabbed an advertising sign that lay nearby, prompting a "tug-of-war" battle.

The row was started when Fahri told Jimmy to "get out of the way" when he turned and found the brothers behind him in the shop.

Jimmy told him he would move out of the way if he said "please".

The jury heard he exploded with rage when 6ft 2ins, 14 stone Jimmy stood his ground.

In an attempt to make the victim let go of the sign, Fahri threw an oven dish at Mizen, known among his family as a "gentle giant", who was a customer in the shop. As the dish shattered a piece got lodged in the victim's neck, cutting an artery and his jugular vein.

The judge, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said: "A trivial incident over absolutely nothing in a High Street bakery ended in three minutes later with the death of a blameless man."

Jimmy's brother Harry, who saw Fahri pick up the dish and throw it, said: "I turned round and saw blood. There was lots of blood. It was thrown hard."

Jimmy managed to stagger into a back room in the bakery, where 15 seconds later his older brother Tommy, 27, found him.

He collapsed and died in Tommy's arms.

Fahri told the court he did not mean to do serious harm, saying: "I did not think it would break, let alone hit him in the face. I literally picked it up and slung it in two seconds."

Jimmy's family, praised by the judge for their dignity throughout the trial, applauded the Old Bailey when the verdict was delivered.

(JM/BMcc)