Man jailed for killing boy, 16, in front of mother

"Romario Gordon, 22, was part of a group armed with knives who were "effectively hunting as a pack" as they came for Camron Smith at his home in Croydon on 1 July 2021. Camron's mother Audrey Johnson tried to protect her son when they kicked down the door, and tried to take a knife from one of the attackers, the court heard."

"After a struggle downstairs, they chased Camron upstairs to a bedroom where he attempted to barricade himself and his mother inside. Ms Johnson desperately tried to protect her son and tried to grab a large black zombie knife with a serrated, curved 16-inch (40cm) blade brandished by one of the attackers. She then stood, arms outstretched, in between her son and the group in a vain attempt to stop them."

"During sentencing at the Old Bailey, Judge Anuja Dhir KC told Gordon: "When you arrived at the address, it was your plan to cause injury and you knew that knives were being carried, some of those knives were large machetes." She added: "Camron Smith was killed in front of his mother in her bedroom. I cannot think of anything worse for a mother to see.""

Romario Gordon, 22, was part of a group armed with knives who targeted Camron Smith at his home in Croydon on 1 July 2021. The group hijacked a Toyota Prius minicab and entered multiple properties before kicking down the door of Camron's home. Camron and his mother Audrey Johnson tried to barricade themselves; Johnson attempted to take a large zombie knife from an attacker and stood between her son and the assailants. Camron, unarmed and wearing only underwear, was chased upstairs, surrounded and fatally stabbed in his bedroom. Gordon was sentenced at the Old Bailey, where the judge said he intended to cause injury and knew large knives were carried.

Read at www.bbc.com