The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Teenagers locked up for life for girl scout’s murder
Two teenagers have been locked up for life for the “callous” murder of Girl Scout Jodie Chesney.
Drug dealer Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and his 17-year-old runner Arron Isaacs were involved in a “tit-for-tat vendetta” with rivals when they killed Jodie by mistake, the Old Bailey heard. The popular 17-year-old had been relaxing with friends in a park in east London on the evening of March 1 when two figures emerged from the dark and one knifed her in the back.
She screamed and collapsed in the arms of her boyfriend, Eddie Coyle, 18, as her attackers made off in a drug dealer’s car. They were arrested days later as they fled from a house.
The defendants denied Jodie’s murder, each blaming the other for inflicting the fatal wound.
The jury deliberated for less than six hours to find them guilty last week of Jodie’s murder.
Judge Wendy Joseph QC handed the stabber Ong-aKwie a life sentence with a minimum of 26 years.
She ordered his “enthusiastic supporter” Isaacs to be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for at least 18 years.
She told them: “Jodie was a bright, warm and loving girl who could have given so much to so many, and who should have led a happy and fulfilled life.
“All that was taken away by an act of callous, casual and utterly irresponsible violence.
“Those present at the scenewilllivewiththe horror for a very, very long time.”
The judge said the stabbing had come about amid an escalating “tit-fortat
vendetta” between rival drug dealers.
She lifted reporting restrictions on Isaacs’ identity in the exceptional circumstances of the case.
Explaining her reasons, she said: “This death has brought great unease in the community.
“Those suffering, which spreads much further than Jodie’s friends and family, need and have a right to know and understand how this has come about.”