Five jailed for boy’s fatal stabbing in Ipswich

IPSWICH: Four men and a teenager have been jailed for the killing of a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed 15 times and had a bottle smashed over his head in a postcode feud.Tavis Spencer-Aitkens was attacked just yards from his family home in Ipswich on June 2 last year, an earlier trial at Ipswich Crown Court was told. Four people were found guilty of his murder and a fifth was convicted of manslaughter, Suffolk Police said.The four convicted of murder were all handed life sentences on Tuesday, the force said. Aristote Yenge, 23, of Spring Road, Ipswich, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years. Adebayo Amusa, 20, of Sovereign Road, Barking, in east London, was given a minimum term of 23 years.Minimum terms of 21 years were given to 19-year-old Isaac Calver, of Firmin Close, Ipswich, and to 17-year-old Kyreis Davies, of Turnstile Square, Colchester — who can be named after the judge lifted a court order. Callum Plaats, 23, of Ipswich, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 14 years.During the trial the court heard that Yenge, Davies, Calver and Plaats were all part of a group who called themselves J-Block, based around the Jubilee Park area of Ipswich. Amusa was known to associate with J-Block and has appeared in some music videos they recorded.Tavis was friends with a group who called themselves Neno or The Three, which is a reference to the IP3 postcode area of Ipswich from where they came. The two groups had a heated rivalry and dislike for each other. Earlier in the day on which Tavis was murdered, Yenge and Davies took refuge in a shop in Ipswich town centre after being spotted by two members of Neno. The two Neno members taunted them, shouting out “IP3”, before a plain-clothes police officer heard a disturbance from out in the street, entered the shop and escorted the Neno members out.The perceived shame and loss of respect that Yenge and Davies suffered by running and hiding from two members of the Neno group, close to what they would have regarded as their territory, is what provided the motivation for the attack on Tavis Spencer-Aitkens, police said. Detective Chief Inspector Mike Brown, of the Major Investigation Team, said: “Knife crime has become the great societal challenge of our time in this country and we have to educate children and young adults that knives have no place on our streets.”

from The News International - Top Story http://bit.ly/2LeE9pk