A judge has today (11 August) sentenced a man to six years and four months in prison for a knife attack on a teenager on a Victoria Line tube.

19-year-old Amarjay Nkemayang, of Crawshay Road in Lambeth, London, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon at the Old Bailey on 22 May. He will serve fifteen months the latter crime, to run concurrently witht he sentence for the former.

The attack took place on the afternoon of 23 November last year. Nkemayang and three other men met the sixteen-year-old victim outside a sports shop in Brixton and followed him into Brixton Underground station. Both the victim and Nkemayang – who did not know each other – boarded a northbound Victoria Line train on the same carriage via different doors.

Once on the train, Nkemayang took out his knife – described as ‘Rambo-style’ – and stabbed the victim in his left side, causing a three-centimetre-deep wound. A knife fight followed, causing great fear among other passengers. British Transport Police (BTP) officers intercepted the train at the next station, Stockwell, where Nkemayang was arrested and the knife confiscated.

BTP Detective Sergeant, Mike Blakeburn, commented, “This was an extreme and unprovoked act of violence and we are truly fortunate that the outcome was not murder.  What was especially disturbing was the fact the victim was pursued for no apparent reason into Brixton station by Nkemayang other than for the sole purpose of a knife attack. For this to occur on a busy Underground train on an otherwise normal Wednesday afternoon in suburban London is truly frightening.

“Every single person who travels on the London Underground, and on the wider rail network, deserve to do so without fear of violence in any form.

“Today’s sentence should send a very clear message to all that we will work tirelessly to bring violent offenders like this before the courts to face justice.”