Rex -v- Kozma Papa

Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)CriminalSentencing Remarks

Central Criminal Court

6 December 2024

Before:

The Recorder of London
His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC

Between:

Rex

-v-

Kozma Papa

Sentencing remarks

  1. On 24th October 2024, you pleaded guilty to the murder of Bledi Petraj. At an earlier hearing in May, you admitted the possession of a bladed article and I must now sentence you for those two offences.
  2. It was just after 2pm on 4th February this year that a black BMW driven by Petraj and a Ford Mondeo driven by you, drove into Queen Elizabeth’s Drive, Southgate, London N14. Petraj’s car stopped at the side of the road and as soon as he did so, you pull up in the Mondeo. The two of you are seen to get out your cars and immediately began fighting: no apparent conversation took place. You each had a large knife and a violent confrontation took place. You aimed blows at each other before Petraj dropped or lost control of the knife he had. You managed to get the knife and then had both knives and Petraj fell to the ground. Once he was on the ground you stabbed Petraj again a number of times. The incident overall is about a minute long and the most violent part some 25 seconds. Soon afterwards you got back into your car and drove away.
  3. Members of the public witnessed the attack which took place in daylight in a residential street. There is CCTV and some mobile phone footage of the incident. You are seen to deliver multiple blows to Petraj using the knife you had, as well as the one you got from Petraj. A number of blows are inflicted whilst Petraj was on the ground unarmed. After a short pause, you ended the attack with two forceful stabs to Petraj whilst he lay defenceless on the ground.
  4. Details of your car were circulated by the police and you were arrested just before 3:30pm that afternoon. At the scene as well as the two large knives – one some 20cm in length and the other with a curved blade and 15cm in length, the police also recovered a crowbar and screwdriver. The emergency services were soon on the scene, but despite their valiant efforts, Petraj was pronounced dead at 4:10pm.
  5. Some 45 minutes before the violent confrontation, the two of you had been seen outside a café in Ashfield Parade, Southgate. At about 1:15pm Papa you were sat outside the café. Petraj came from inside the café, shook hands with the man sat next to you – you offer your hand to Petraj, but he ignored it. Words were exchanged between the two of you, you got up from your chair and stood close to Petraj who then pushed you in the upper chest. Aggressive words expressed by the two of you and some of what was said by Petraj was clearly very provocative. Others there then stood between the two of you before you picked up a coffee cup and threw it at Petraj and the two of you tried to confront each other. Once again others separated you and kept the two of you apart. There was then further jostling and posturing between the two of you. On the audio of the CCTV the exchange of hostile words can be heard and the two of you can be heard saying you would meet one another again. Phone records also show contact between the two of you after this and before the altercation on Queen Elizabeth Drive. I note the instigation of the calls was to you from Petraj.
  6. When the post-mortem examination on Petraj was conducted a few days later on 9th February 2024, it showed death resulted from a stab wound entering the front right side of the chest and passing backwards and upwards, from Petraj’s right to left, through the chest wall, to strike the upper aspect of the right ventricle of his heart. The track continued through the right atrium of the heart. Dr Chapman said that bleeding from the heart and chest wall would be expected to be immediate and profuse. He noted a significant collection of blood within the chest, and a small right lower lobe lung injury. There was no evidence of a blunt assault. There were minor grazes on the back of the right hand consistent with collapse to the ground. There were no cutting injuries to the hands to suggest any defensive type action on the part of Petraj. There were several stab wounds to the lower limbs consistent with what is in the CCTV footage, of Petraj being on the ground and kicking out with his legs in a defensive manner. Dr Chapman’s opinion was that the fatal stab wound would have requiring moderate force. It was a deeply penetrating wound which had not passed through any bony structures. He noted 12 further sharp injuries to the body surface that would have bled to variable degrees but in the context of the main injury, had not contributed significantly to death.
  7. I have seen and read a victim impact statement which incorporates views and statements of the family. Bledi, or Spiro as he was known to some, is clearly much mourned and missed by his loving family. He was 37 at the date of death. He had come to the UK in 2021. Applications for asylum, or for leave to remain were outstanding at the date of his death. His sister speaks of the impact on her, as does his brother, and also on their parents over their loss. Bledi had stepchildren he loved as if they were his biological children. In the thoughts set out by Bledi’s parents they say their lives will never be the same without their son. They also express the view about the need to stop knife crime: a sentiment that I know many others will agree with.
  8. You were 21 at the time of the murder and are now 22 [date of birth 23rd September 2002]. There are no previous convictions, reprimands, warnings or cautions recorded against you in this country. In the Defence Statement you accept some involvement in drug dealing. You are an Albanian national, entering the UK illegally by boat in September 2022, and then claiming asylum. At the time of these offences you remained an asylum seeker. On 3rd May this year, following this offence, the Home Office withdrew your asylum application. It may well be that you will be deported from the UK.
  9. The sentence for murder is fixed by law and for you it must be imprisonment for life. The issue for me is to decide on the minimum term you must serve before your case is first considered by the Parole Board.
  10. In considering schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020, in my judgment this case falls within paragraph 4 of that schedule as you took a knife to the scene intending to commit an offence, or to have it available to use as a weapon. The start point for sentence is therefore one of 25 years’ duration.
  11. In terms of aggravating factors, I must be careful so as not to double-count on factors that place the case with a 25 year start point, but having armed yourself with a knife in advance of the confrontation, you used it to attack and went on to use two knives, the one you had and the one you took from Petraj, a number of times during the course of the altercation, causing multiple wounds. I note this attack takes place in a public street, in daylight, in front of members of the public.
  12. In terms of mitigating factors, there is a lack of significant premeditation. This appears not to have been planned or premeditated beyond the shared intention to meet up and confront each another following the incident and exchanges at the café. There was clearly animosity between the two of you. I have considered whether there was an intention to cause really serious harm rather than to kill, but it seems to me that in continuing the attack once Petraj is on the ground and defenceless inflicting further blows to him, the evidence points away from that being the appropriate conclusion. As Mr Smith rightly concedes in his sentencing note, whilst you do not accept you had an intent to kill, given the number of blows and the sustained nature of the attack, even if this Court was to accept that there was no intention to kill, it would afford little if any, mitigation. I agree with his observations. However, having said that to some extent in the initial stages of the incident, I do accept that there was an element of provocation or loss of control that whilst not amounting to a defence, is important to acknowledge.
  13. You have pleaded guilty. The plea came after a trial date had been set and about 6 weeks before the trial and some reduction for plea will be given. On your behalf it is acknowledged that whilst by law the reduction can be no more than one sixth of the sentence, and the amount of any reduction comes down as a trial nears, an amount close to full credit should be given. I agree it should be of that level.
  14. In mitigation reliance is placed on your age and what was said by the Court of Appeal in R. v. ZA [2023] EWCA Crim 596. Whilst I will have the principles set out by the Court of Appeal in mind, I am also conscious of the amendments to schedule 21 for those aged 18 and under to be sentenced for murder.
  15. I have seen and read documents from prison that show you have used the time on remand well. There are a number of character letters from family and friends who all speak highly of your many good qualities: those who know you are shocked that you have been involved in such grave violence. I have seen and read an articulate letter that you have written where you set out your remorse for what you did and give some insight into the grief, pain and anguish you have caused.

Sentence

  1. In my judgment, taking an initial start point of 25 years for the minimum term, the aggravating factors I have set out lead to a modest upward adjustment to a minimum term of 26 years’ imprisonment. Making allowance for the mitigating factors I have identified, it brings the minimum term down to 23 years before then making the adjustment for your plea, a minimum term of 20 years’ duration.
  2. I do not wish there to be any misunderstanding as to the sentence passed. As with the passing of any life sentence – it is just that – a life sentence. In determining the minimum term, the court is not saying you will be released at that date: the sentence is one of life imprisonment. The minimum term is the term to be served before the parole board can consider your case and consider whether you are someone where it is safe for you then to be released on licence or not. The earliest that can happen is in 20 years less the 304 days you have been on remand. (19 years 61 days) If the information which I have been provided with as to the number of days on remand proves to be inaccurate, then the prosecution or defence must notify the court so that the case can be relisted to correct the calculation as soon as possible and in any event within 56 days. A person sentenced to life who is released remains on licence for the rest of their natural life. In relation to count 2, having an article with a blade or point, a sentence of 9 months’ imprisonment. That sentence to be concurrent to the sentence on count 1.
  3. As the statutory surcharge applies in this case, the appropriate order can be drawn up.

Further information

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