By Milly Saber
An innocent 16 year old boy from Southall was murdered in November 2021 by two 18 year olds, both of whom mistakenly thought this boy was part of a rival gang.
On 6th March 2023, Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman were found guilty for the murder of 16 year old Rishmeet Singh, consequential to a trial at the Old Bailey.
Both teenagers were sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 24 years for Balakrishnan and 21 years for Suleiman.
“Rishmeet was an innocent 16 year old who had his whole life ahead of him”, said Detective Inspector Laura Semple, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, “He had just spent an enjoyable evening with his friends and was making the short walk home when he was callously chased down and knifed to death by Balakrishnan and Suleiman”.
Singh had just left his friends after spending the evening in a park, when he saw Balakrishnan and Suleiman, whom he did not recognise, running towards him. Singh turned and ran back to his friends shouting, “run, run”.
Singh tripped and fell on Raleigh Road, Southall, which he had run down to get away from the 18 year olds. Once on the floor, he was stabbed in the back at least 5 times by one of the teenagers, the other stabbed him at least 10 times
The attack, starting from when Rishmeet fell, lasted 27 seconds.
Singh was stabbed 15 times altogether by the teenagers, while he lay there helpless on the floor.
You can read more about Rishmeet’s story here