Teddington man found guilty of cousin’s murder on Latchmere Road, Battersea

1 post
Community Editor
Posts: 3852
Joined: Sep 2018
Options:
Share this post on:

Teddington man found guilty of cousin’s murder on Latchmere Road, Battersea

Postby Community Editor » Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:00 am

A man has been found guilty of killing his cousin, 40 year-old Tesfa Campbell.

38-Year-old Jerome Bailey, of Victor Road in Teddington was found guilty of murder following a two-week-trial which concluded on January 21, at Croydon Crown Court.

DCI Simon Harding who led the investigation said: “I am pleased with the unanimous guilty verdict reached in this case.

"Unfortunately, we are still no clearer to knowing why a meeting between the two cousins has ended with Tesfa losing his life at the hands of another family member.

“This is undoubtedly a tragic incident that will have a long lasting impact on Tesfa’s family and friends."The nature of this incident is deeply shocking and I hope that this verdict goes some way to help them begin to a close this sad chapter.

“I also want to pay tribute to the members of the public who came forward to assist with the investigation and those who stopped to help after the attack.”

The court heard how at 14:45am, Bailey fatally stabbed Tesfa, from Croydon, in the abdomen on Latchmere Road in Battersea at 2:45am on July 3, 2019.

When the incident took place, Tesfa had been on his way either to or from the gym as he did most days.

Bailey travelled all the way from Tedddington to Battersea having arranged to meet Tesfa.The reason for the meeting is unclear.

A murder investigation was launched and detectives quickly identified Bailey as the perpetrator thanks to CCTV recovered from the area.

CCTV captured the two men, Tesfa and Bailey, walking down Burns Road, toward Latchmere Road, just two minutes before Tesfa was stabbed.

Also in the footage, Tesfa is seen carrying a large, bright yellow, drawstring bag, which was no longer in his possession when he collapsed.

Tesfa died later in hospital.

Bailey was later caught on CCTV walking away from the scene carrying Tesfa’s distinctive yellow bag.Four days later on July 7, 2019 officers arrested Bailey at a property on Victor Road, Teddington.

When police searched the address, two yellow plastic drawstring bags of exactly the same kind as the one which had been taken from Tesfa were found in the back garden.

Police also discovered the Oyster card that Bailey used to make his journey from Teddington to Battersea in the bottom of one of those yellow bags.

The court heard how the cousins had once been close, with Tesfa often being willing in the past to help Bailey out, for example by lending him money.

However, this had recently begun to change with Tesfa telling other family members he “had reached the point where he was going to cut [Bailey] off.”

He will be sentenced at a later date at the same location.  
Post Reply

Start a conversation
To create a new post and start a new conversation, please click on the button.