TELEGRAPH
Three teenagers killed a university student because they found him “drunk and annoying” on a bus, a court heard.
Gabriel Stoyanov, 21, was attacked by the youths after getting off the 181 service in Bromley, south-east London, in November last year.
The business management undergraduate had been out drinking with a friend and, after they got on the bus, he tried to engage with the attackers: two youths now aged 15 and 17, and Alex Kibble, 18.
The defendants got off the bus two stops later and went to the home of the 17-year-old, where they armed themselves with weapons and lay in wait for him outside a takeaway restaurant.
The 17-year-old had a knife, Kibble had a motorbike chain and the 15-year-old had a bottle.
CCTV showed Mr Stoyanov come out of the shop and back away as he saw the defendants.
Swung a motorcycle chain
Kibble swung the chain at him, but missed, and the 15-year-old threw his bottle before the 17-year-old stabbed the victim in his chest with a knife.
The youths then ran away and Mr Stoyanov was taken to hospital, where he died the next day.
During a trial at the Old Bailey in August, Edward Brown KC, prosecuting, had told jurors that Mr Stoyanov was murdered for “being little more than drunk” on Nov 4, 2022.
“He was killed for being little more than drunk and annoying, perhaps very annoying,” he said.
“However, nothing he did reasonably justified, in law or otherwise, being attacked and killed.”
Mr Brown said that the victim had sought to engage with his killers but this had not been welcomed.
“Fortified by drink, Gabriel sought to engage the defendants, and although the defendants do not appear to be unduly troubled by his antics at this stage, his attention was not welcomed.
“It should have been the end of any kind of confrontation – whether in jest, or as a result of being a nuisance or otherwise.”
‘Self-defence’ claim rejected
The court heard Mr Stoyanov had flicked the ear of the 17-year-old and punched him in the stomach but without much force before being taken off the bus by his friend.
The defendants claimed they acted in “self-defence” but the trial judge rejected the suggestion they were provoked in any way.
The 17-year-old boy was found guilty of murder and handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years.
Kibble, from Bexley, south-east London, was also found guilty of murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and nine months.
The 15-year-old was given a sentence of six years and eight months for manslaughter.
The defendants were also convicted of possessing offensive weapons, which was reflected in their sentences.
Sentencing the trio on Friday, Judge John Hillen said the motive, “as incredible as it seems”, was that they were annoyed at the victim’s “boorish behaviour on a bus”.
He said Mr Stoyanov had been described by his loved ones as “easy-going, compassionate and always ready to help others”.
‘Infinite goodness in his spirit’
The judge said: “He is described by his mother as being full of life and dreams and energy to achieve them.
“He had a sparkling personality and infinite goodness in his spirit.
“He was the joy of his family and his untimely death has devastated them.”
At an earlier hearing, Mr Stoyanov’s mother, Mariana Petrova, said in a victim impact statement that her son “wanted to travel the world…
