Two men who fled the UK to evade justice have been jailed for the murder of 16-year-old Alex Smith.
Alex was fatally stabbed on August 12, 2019, on the Regent's Park Estate in Camden.
The Islington teenager was found mortally wounded in Munster Square, off Euston Road.
Alex grew up near Holloway Road and went to school in Tufnell Park, but was living in Wembley at the time he was killed.
The defendants fled the country in the aftermath of murder.
Alex Smith, 16, was murdered by a gang in Camden. Four men have now been jailed. (Image: Met)
Siyad Mohamud, 24, of Barker Drive, Camden, and Tariq Monteiro, 23, of Conway Mews, Fitzrovia, were charged in January 2022 after being arrested in Kenya and returned to the UK.
Both were found guilty of Alex's murder at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (May 10).
At the same court two days later, Tariq Monteiro was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 24 years.
Siyad Mohamud received a life sentence to serve a minimum of 23 years.
David Hucker, regional head of international operations at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: “Our international team worked alongside authorities in Kenya to successfully locate and arrest these two men.
“We will continue to gather intelligence, co-ordinate operational activity and use our specialist capabilities to pursue those who flee overseas to evade justice."
Det Serg Martin Slattery, from the Met's specialist crime unit, said: “The pair had left London days after the murder in a bid to evade justice, but thanks to the diligence of detectives from the Metropolitan Police they were identified and, working alongside the National Crime Agency with the assistance of the Kenyan Transnational Organized Crime Unit, they were traced to Nairobi, Kenya and returned to the UK to be brought before the courts.
“Neither Mohamud nor Monteiro have shown any remorse throughout the trial and have offered no explanation as to why they committed such a heinous act.
“This investigation reinforces the Metropolitan Police’s commitment and determination to bring those responsible for serious violence on the streets of London to justice, no matter where they run to and hide.”
The trial heard Alex was attacked and stabbed in the chest and back just after 11.05pm on August 12, 2019.
At around at 11.30pm the teenager was seen leaving a restaurant in Great Portland Street.
At the time he was in the company of others who associated with a Camden-based street gang.
This group was spotted by rival gang members, which included Monteiro and Mohamud.
A short time later, this small group ran to an estate on the north side of Euston Road where they took refuge for a period of time.
It is believed that they had seen Mohamud and Monteiro among the rival gang members in two stolen cars before running off.
Just after 11pm, the two cars pulled up in Longford Street where a number of men including Mohamud and Monteiro ran into a block of flats.
Alex and his friends were spotted nearby and Alex was chased by three men, including Mohamud and Monteiro, into Munster Square, just north of Euston Road, where he was stabbed to death.
The attackers made off in the two cars, leaving Alex for dead.
Emergency services were called, but Alex was pronounced dead at the scene at 11.33pms.
A post-mortem examination on August 15 2019 at St Pancras Mortuary recorded that Alex had been stabbed at least twice, one of which was the fatal stab wound to his chest.
Previously Abdirahman Ibrahim, now 22, of Pratt Street, Camden, was found guilty of murder and assisting an offender following a retrial at Inner London Crown Court on March 29, 2021. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 18 years.
Prior to that Arif Biomy, now 22, of Wickham Lane, Greenwich, was found guilty of murder and was jailed for a minimum 21 years on March 12, 2020 .
Det Serg Slattery added: "I want to thank Alex’s family for their patience as well as acknowledging the commitment of my colleagues in the Met and our partners in bringing these men to justice.
"I truly hope that these further convictions will enable Alex’s family and friends to draw some comfort from knowing that these men, responsible for killing Alex, will spend a considerable period of time in prison."
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