A 21-year-old man was attacked and killed by four men while walking to the shop with his girlfriend. 

At around 5pm on February 8 last year Bartosz Wyrzykowski – known as Bartek – was walking on Lionel Road in Eltham when a car pulled up at a roundabout. 

Four men got out of the car and attacked Bartek – Yusuf Aydin, Jack Davies, Benedict Paul and a boy who was 16 at the time of the attack (and cannot be named for legal reasons).

There had been some animosity between 22-year-old Aydin, who was the driver, and Bartek prior to this attack. 

The court heard that Bartek was “undoubtedly outnumbered and overpowered”.

Bartek told his girlfriend to run away, before he tried to escape but was pursued by the four.

The fatal blow came when the unnamed teen used a large machete style knife to stab him. 

The attack was witnessed by horrified parents who were picking their children up from a nearby nursery school.

Bartek was rushed to the Royal London Hospital but was pronounced dead at 7.05pm that evening. 

The four defendants appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday (April 12) after a trial which saw the unnamed teen was found guilty of murder and the others of manslaughter. 

A statement from Bartek’s mum was read in court, in which she described him as a “wonderful boy with a heart of gold”. 

“Each day every day since the day he was born, I've had a deep bond with him. I promised him when he came into this world that I would protect him and never let him come to harm,” she said. 

His mum said their whole family are in a great deal of pain after losing Bartek, who had always put them first. 

“We often catch ourselves walking into his room to talk to him or even say his name, then comes the painful realisation that he’s not there and he never will be again,” she said. 

The court heard that the four defendants had a shared interest in drill music which glorifies violence.

Aydin, Davies and Paul said they did not know that the 16-year-old had a knife, however, Judge Usah Karu said she was satisfied that all of the attackers knew about the weapon.

Judge Karu said: “Another life was needlessly lost as a result of a knife being carried unlawfully on the street, this time in Eltham."

She said the reason for the attack is only known by the four defendants.

Judge Karu handed out the following sentences: 

  • The unnamed teen was sentenced to life in custody with a minimum term of 17 years for murder 
  • Davies, aged 20, was sentenced to 11 years in custody for manslaughter 
  • Aydin, aged 22, was sentenced to 12 years in custody for manslaughter 
  • Paul, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to 9 years in custody for manslaughter