A youth with a history of knife crime has been jailed for 10 years over the death of a friendly, shy and polite Richmond College student in a Twickenham park.

The horrendous crime was witnessed by children from two local schools who were playing a rugby match close to the bloody confrontation between the youth and his victim, Hazrat Wali.

Hazrat, who was 18 and a twin, arrived in the UK as a refugee from Afghanistan and hoped to get an education, find safety and build a new life.

However, he died after being stabbed on the Craneford Way Playing Fields, close to Richmond College in October last year.

Site of the assault the Craneford Way Playing Fields. Credit: Google Maps.

His attacker, who was aged 16 at the time, had been in court earlier the same day over an offence involving the illegal possession of a knife on an earlier occasion in Wandsworth.

He was given a youth detention order at Wimbledon Magistrates Court and then later the same day went on to attack Hazrat.

Earlier this year a jury at the Old Bailey found him not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser alternative charge of manslaughter.

The court heard the defendant, who was enrolled on a college course, went on to attack a female member of staff at McDonald's an hour after stabbing Hazrat. He subsequently pleaded guilty to affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC sentenced the youth to 10 years' detention at the Old Bailey on Friday.

She told the youth: "When you stabbed Hazrat he was unarmed and outnumbered by you and your friends."

She said he made a 'deliberate decision to carry a fearsome weapon' that day, adding: "You told the jury that you took the knife to the magistrates' court. You left it in some bushes outside and collected it once the hearing concluded."

Hazrat left Afghanistan in early 2015 when he was just 12 in the hope of finding safety and starting a new life. He lived in Austria for a short time before moving permanently to the UK and settled in London in 2017.

Scotland Yard said he was described by all those who knew him across all care settings as shy, friendly, polite and respectful to everyone he met.

His older brother, Mohamed Ashuk, told the court: "He was just settling into college and enjoying his new life in London and he wanted to study and become an engineer."

The court heard Mr Wali's twin brother was 'traumatised' by the news of his death when he arrived in the UK.

Mr Ashuk said: "He thought he would be reunited with his brother after travelling here from Afghanistan."

He added: "This was no accident but it was a deliberate and violent attack which has left me and my family in a state of devastation."

Hazrat was sitting in the park with Mariam Ahmadazai, a female friend, on October 12 2021 when they were approached by the defendant and five other teenagers.

Prosecutor Jacob Hallam KC had said that one of the girls in the group made a comment that the pair 'looked nice together'. But the defendant, then aged 16, began swearing at Hazrat, who got to his feet and approached him.

During an altercation, the defendant then produced a 20cm long black knife with zigzag-shaped indentations on the blade and stabbed Hazrat causing massive blood loss.

A teacher from a local school gave first aid and emergency services attended but they were unable to save his life.

Giving evidence in court, the youth claimed he had been scared. He said that his previous experiences on the streets made him feel unsafe and so he carried a knife for protection.

The court heard that while on remand at the Feltham Youth Offenders Institution he had attacked another inmate.

In a phone call, he had bragged that he and another inmate had targeted the victim in the showers, saying: "Me and (the other youth) got into a scrap with some yout' from Luton. We f***** him up, he's still in hospital."

A second attack occurred on Boxing Day 2021, when he punched another inmate in the back of the head. He pleaded guilty to affray and was sentenced to a four-month detention and training order, the court was told.

Garry Green, defending, said his client suffered trauma from witnessing domestic violence when he was younger and has been subject to social services since he was two years old.