A young knifeman, who repeatedly stabbed a rival with a huge machete-style red-bladed weapon at busy Imperial Wharf station in west London, has been locked-up.
Knife: Aidan Watts
Aidan Watts, 20, of Cremorne Estate, Chelsea received five years and one month custody after pleading at Inner London Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
His accomplices, who struck during the shocking rush hour attack, Jakada Joseph, 22, of Cambridge Gardens, Notting Hill and Stefan Kosavac-Godart, 19, were convicted of affray.
Kosavac-Godart was given a conditional discharge, following time served on remand and Joseph will be sentenced separately.
British Transport Police (BTP) were called to Imperial Wharf railway station in Chelsea, just after 5.20pm on June 18, last year to reports of a stabbing.
Officers raced to the scene with paramedics and found a 20-year-old man with multiple life-threatening stab injuries to his thigh, abdomen and buttocks.
He was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, where doctors and nurses worked to stabilise him.
BTP detectives had been alerted in the meantime and immediately launched an investigation to track down the offenders.
They spoke to several witnesses and established the victim was on the same train as the suspect group, but they had not seen each other because the carriage was so busy.
He had departed the train and was making his way along the platform towards the exit when his attackers spotted him.
They ran to confront him and ambushed him, chasing him along the platform and tripping him over before Watts launched a frenzied knife attack in full view of onlookers.
After the attack the trio fled and witnesses described seeing Watts carrying a machete with a red 40cm blade as he ran away.
As part of their enquiries, detectives examined CCTV coverage that showed Watts discarding items of clothing in a nearby residential estate after the attack.
His distinctive, red-bladed knife was found close by after he tried to hide it by a set of maintenance units that formed part of the estate.
BTP Detective Chief Inspector Paul Attwell said: “What was a normal summer’s evening at a busy West London station very quickly escalated into serious violence.
“The two parties were on the same train, within feet of each other, and had the group not noticed the victim then the whole incident could have been avoided.
“As it was, they spotted him and outnumbered him, before Watts launched a spontaneous, but targeted frenzied attack on the platform.
“Our detectives worked tirelessly to gather a wealth of witness statements, CCTV footage and forensic evidence.
“I’d like to thank them and our colleagues from the Metropolitan Police Service and the Crown Prosecution Service for supporting our investigation.”
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