Stopped by cops with three knives in two years, but left on the streets to kill boy, 14
DESPITE being caught with three terrifying knives in less than two years, a teenager remained free on London’s streets to kill.
The capital’s youngest murder victim of 2021 was stabbed to death by Marques Walker, then 16 and on bail for possessing a lethal zombie knife.
Unarmed Jermaine Cools, 14, was stabbed seven times with a machete during a street brawl.
As her son’s killer was jailed for life yesterday, his mother Lorraine Dudek slammed the failure to keep the habitual knife-carrier off the streets, saying: ‘It can be anyone’s child.’
Walker became the first youth to be sentenced on television as he was jailed for a minimum term of 19 years. An application by the Press, including the Daily Mail, led to the judge lifting the anonymity which is typically given to
‘Wrote rap song about murder’
under-18 offenders. The Old Bailey was told the remorseless killer had written a rap song about Jermaine’s murder which included the lyrics: ‘Even if that youth was a civilian I would still rewind and chef up [stab] his back.’
Walker was first caught with a blade in January 2020 when teachers found a 10in Rambo-style knife in his school rucksack.
In April 2021, when he was stopped by police outside a county lines operation in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, Walker pulled a serrated dagger from his waistband and discarded it as he fled.
And in October 2021, Walker was caught with a 20in zombie knife on a bus in Croydon, south London. He was on bail for possessing it when he murdered Jermaine in Croydon on November 18, 2021.
In CCTV footage, Jermaine was seen being knocked to the ground during a brawl with a group of other young men. Walker pulled a machete from his jacket pocket and stabbed Jermaine seven times. Walker fled and ran home, using his tablet device to make an internet search for ‘Croydon stabbing today’, before leaving and going to ground for six weeks.
He was eventually found by police who were searching a friend’s house in relation to another matter. He pleaded guilty to murder, possessing a knife and causing grievous bodily harm.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Dudek added: ‘Our family home used to be full of love, laughter and happiness. It is now a house of three people suffering with pain and mental trauma.’ She said: ‘Had it been addressed earlier, [Walker] would not have had the opportunity to go out to kill. Young males get caught with a knife, the knife gets confiscated.
‘Within an hour, they get another one from Snapchat or social media. Stop and search has its place and it’s very, very good for removing weapons but the followup has to be there.’ Superintendent Richard Vandenbergh, from the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘Walker was able to obtain knife after knife. Anyone seeing the pictures of the weapons that police seized from him in the months leading up to the killing of Jermaine should be concerned that weapons like this seem so readily available to young men.’