Stab victim Charlie Bartolo's last moments shown to crying family as he begged 'no no no no' to sword gang in 'brutal' attack
The last moments of a stab victim as he begged a sword gang 'no no no no' have been shown to jurors and his weeping family. Charlie Bartolo was only 16-years-old when he was rammed off his moped by a group of males in a Nissan Qashqai in a 'brutal and random' attack in South East London, Inner London Crown Court heard on Thursday (November 9).
Hussain Bah and Alagie Jobe, both 19, were allegedly with three others in the SUV, which ploughed into Mr Bartolo on Sewell Road and threw him into the air just after 5pm on November 26 last year. They then got out of the vehicle and repeatedly stabbed Charlie with large knives - 'more like a sword' - as he lay 'helpless' on the floor, it is alleged.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told the jury that one of the defendants had 'beef' with the area, describing the killings as the product of a 'petty' postcode rivalry between Thamesmead and Abbey Wood. The jury was shown CCTV footage of the Nissan smashing into Mr Bartolo from behind, 'cartwheeling' him into the air and onto the pavement.
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The distressing footage - which caught Mr Bartolo's final gasps for mercy as he screamed 'no no no no' - drew sobs and tears from the public gallery, but no emotion from the defendants. Friends and family watched as Mr Bartolo was repeatedly knifed by his assailants, appearing to freeze on the ground and then quiver from one leg in his final moments.
The prosecution also allege one of those assailants was another 16-year-old, Kearne Solanke, who was fatally stabbed in the shoulder by another member of the squad during the attack. Mr Solanke died less than a mile away after being abandoned by the side of the road on Titmuss Avenue, Thamesmead, the prosecution said.
“The defendants considered themselves to be, or to represent, Thamesmead. Their target was Abbey Wood," Mr Emlyn Jones said. "They were in a stolen car, so no doubt were pleased to know it could not be traced back to any of them, and as they drove that car into enemy territory they were armed to the teeth with large knives and plenty of them.
“If the purpose was to find an opponent, to find someone from the rival group – in other words, an Abbey Wood youth – they would take the chance to carry out a knife attack."
“The prosecution suggest that they were looking for an Abbey Wood victim to attack – and in Charlie Bartolo, they found one.," he continued. “In fact, as you will see, Charlie was with two of his friends, also on motorbikes, but it just happened that it was Charlie who was rammed and then attacked (for) no particular reason.
“As you will see from the CCTV, once he had been knocked off his bike, he stood no chance, and the defendants wasted no time in jumping out, knives already drawn to complete the attack that the collision had begun.
“Three of them used large knives to stab and strike Charlie as he lay helpless on the ground. The whole thing takes less than a minute. So that accounts for the brutal killing of Charlie Bartolo."
The 16-year-old, 17-year-old, and two 19-year-olds, Hussain Bah and Alagie Jobe, all deny two counts of murder. The trial under Mr Justice Neil Garnham continues.
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