‘I won’t leave the Met alone until they have put all his killers behind bars’: Tory activist whose aspiring lawyer son was stabbed to death is ‘furious’ one suspected murderer was able to escape justice overseas
- Sven Badzak, 22, stabbed to death in London after being mistaken for gang rival
- Two drug dealers were yesterday convicted of murdering son of a Tory activist
- Mother Jasna said she would not rest until all of son’s killers brought to justice
A Tory activist whose son was stabbed to death in the street says she is ‘furious’ that one of his suspected killers was able to flee abroad and escape justice.
Two drug dealers were yesterday convicted of murdering Sven Badzak, 22, after mistaking him for a gang rival while he walked home with a friend after buying orange juice at Waitrose.
But one alleged accomplice fled to the Ivory Coast as police were rounding up the killers, and two other suspects are still at large. Lior Agbayan, 20, the son of an Ivorian diplomat, remains on the run in west Africa and Scotland Yard admits it has no idea where he is.
Mr Badzak, an aspiring lawyer who was privately educated at Wetherby and Portland Place schools before attending Roehampton University, was set upon by six young men who stabbed him four times in an attack lasting just 20 seconds. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
His 16-year-old friend was stabbed in the back but survived the attack in Kilburn, north-west London, on February 6, 2021.
Mistaken identity: Sven Badzak (pictured), 22, was stabbed to death in the street after by drug dealers who mistook him for a gang rival while he walked home with a friend after buying orange juice at Waitrose
Campaign: Jasna Badzak (pictured) wants automatic jail for knife carriers
Anthony Orchard KC, prosecuting, told jurors: ‘Neither victim was a gang member or associate. It appears they were the unfortunate victims of mistaken identity.’
Former Conservative Party activist Jasna Badzak said she would not rest until all of her son’s killers were brought to justice.
She called for a ‘Sven’s Law’, which would mean mandatory jail sentences for anyone caught with a knife, after it emerged that both murderers had multiple convictions for carrying blades.
Rashid Gedel, 22, from Ilford, north-east London, and Shiroh Ambersley, 22, from Wembley, north-west London, were found guilty of murdering Mr Badzak in the vicious attack.
Harvey Canavan, 19, from Maida Vale, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful wounding before the trial began.
Ms Badzak said: ‘I am so pleased that finally there is some small semblance of justice for my beautiful son. I consider the job half done; there are still three more out there and I will not rest until Sven gets justice.
‘I will not leave the Metropolitan Police alone until they have finished the job and put all of his killers behind bars.
‘For two-and-a-half years they have been able to walk the streets and lead normal lives.’
The former parliamentary candidate said Agbayan, from Wembley, was driven to Manchester airport after he heard Ambersley had been arrested, boarded a plane to Paris, then flew on to the Ivory Coast.
‘I could not be more furious that was allowed to happen,’ Ms Badzak said. ‘And they have no idea where he is. I don’t think they have questioned his family or have done anything to find him.
‘If he wasn’t identified as a suspect at the time, then why not? And if he was, then why were they not all arrested together at the same time?’
Left to right: Rashid Gedel, 22, from Ilford, north-east London, and Shiroh Ambersley, 22, from Wembley, north-west London, were found guilty of murder; and Harvey Canavan, 19, from Maida Vale, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful wounding
The Mail learned in April 2021 that Agbayan had fled the UK, but the Met said it was hunting the alleged killer and publishing his name could jeopardise its investigation. A source admitted last night, however, that the whereabouts of the fugitive, whose father is a respected diplomat once based at the Ivorian embassy in London, remained unknown.
A Met Police spokesman said Agbayan had not been identified as a suspect when he fled Britain.
Gedel, who was caught on CCTV alongside the other killers – all believed to be members of the notorious South Kilburn or SK gang – boasted about the fatal attack on social media. He has 13 convictions, including four for carrying blades dating back to 2014. On his arrest in March 2021, a hunting knife was seized.
Ambersley also has a conviction for possession of a blade, two offences of threatening with an offensive weapon in a public place and affray, and drug possession.
Ms Badzak said: ‘I am going to be calling for Sven’s Law, which will mean an automatic jail sentence for anyone caught with a knife.
‘It is the only way to stop these people carrying weapons and the only way to save lives.’
Judge John Dodd KC will sentence the killers on August 3, saying: ‘They are two very young men who are both about to begin very long periods of imprisonment.’
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