Teenage thugs who accidentally stabbed one of their own gang members and left him to die after murdering another boy face jail

A group of teenage thugs who accidentally stabbed one of their own gang members to death as they murdered another boy during a ‘ride out’ are facing life sentences.

Charlie Bartolo, 16, was rammed off his motorbike by a car before five killers jumped out and stabbed him repeatedly in Sewell Road, Abbey Wood, southeast London on November 26, 2022.

At the time of the brutal killings, it was thought they were not connected.

But as it turns out, one of the attackers, 16-year-old Kearne Solanke, was accidentally knifed in the shoulder by his friend as they set upon Charlie.

Kearne, known as ‘Havoc’, got back into the car with his accomplices who drove a mile away to Thamesmead where they dumped the car and their friend, leaving him to die of his injuries.

The two 16-year-olds were reported dead in separate 999 calls within six minutes of each other.

The killers were members of Thamesmead’s T-Block gang involved in a postcode feud with rivals from Abbey Wood.

Alagie Jobe and Hussain Bah, both 19, and two teenagers, aged 17 and 16, denied but were convicted of murdering both boys.

Charlie Bartolo, 16, was rammed off his motorbike by a car before five killers jumped out and stabbed him repeatedly in Sewell Road, Abbey Wood, southeast London on November 26, 2022

One of the attackers, 16-year-old Kearne Solanke (pictured), was accidentally knifed in the shoulder by his friend as they set upon Charlie

Flowers at Sewell Road in Abbey Road with Charlie’s ‘CB’ initials laid out with candles

The 17-year-old accepted that he had been driving the Nissan on the day of the murder.

But he insisted he knew nothing about the impact with Charlie’s bike until his friends told him about it.

Bah, who was still in bed when he was arrested, said: ‘I was not even there’.

All four teenagers were found guilty of murder.

Bah and Jobe will be sentenced on 7 February.

The two unnamed teenagers will be sentenced on 22 February.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones, KC, told earlier how the emergency services were called to Sewell Road at 5.05pm after Charlie was attacked.

‘Charlie was found to have suffered multiple stab wounds, including a large stab wound to his head.

‘He was taken from the scene to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, but despite the best efforts of emergency medical staff, Charlie died from his injuries at 6.24pm.

‘At 5.11pm, so just six minutes after the 999 call had been made in respect of Charlie Bartolo, another 999 call was made, and another ambulance was requested.

‘This time the call was to attend Titmuss Avenue, in Thamesmead, only about one mile away from where Charlie Bartolo had been found.

‘On this second 999 call the caller said that a 16-year-old had been stabbed and was bleeding heavily.’

‘This 16-year-old was named Kearne Solanke. Kearne had been stabbed in the shoulder, causing a deep wound so serious that there wasn’t time even to get him to hospital.’

Witness Tarina Brooks had told the court she was at home in Titmuss Avenue, when she heard ‘shouting and a girl screaming’ and ran out to find Kearne bleeding.

‘He was trying to get up. With all my might I tried to push him down trying to stem the bleeding.

‘In the end he just gave in and lay there.’

She added that when she and another neighbour examined the wound they found it was two inches ‘downwards’.

Asked if Kearne said anything to her Mr Brooks replied: ‘Yes. He said “It’s ok mum, I’ll be ok”.’

Ms Brooks added: ‘I think he thought I was his mum. I was saying to stay with us, stay with us and talk to me.’

Mr Emlyn Jones said: ’Although the two victims were found a mile apart, the police investigation has revealed that both of them were stabbed during the same incident, in the same place, at the same time.

‘CCTV shows a motorbike being deliberately rammed off the road by a car, and the bike rider being thrown into the air and landing in a heap on the pavement.

‘It is very obviously a deliberate collision, caused by the driver of the car. The rider of the moped was Charlie Bartolo.

Kearne Solanke (pictured) was stabbed to death by his friends by mistake as they attacked another teenager

Charlie Bartolo (pictured) was stabbed by the gang after they rammed him off his motorbike

A tribute left for 16-year-old Charlie Bartolo who was stabbed to death in 2022

‘No sooner had the car hit him and knocked him off his bike, the car stopped next to him, and its occupants all got out.

‘Three of them attacked Charlie Bartolo as he lay on the ground.

‘The CCTV shows that all three of them used large knives to stab and strike Charlie as he lay helpless on the ground.

‘The two who got out of the driver’s side did not physically participate in the violence – although it looks as if the driver was armed with yet another knife, and then moved around the front of the car as if to go and join in.

‘It turned out he wasn’t needed – the three on the passenger side had already done what the group set out to do.

‘So that accounts for the brutal killing of Charlie Bartolo. But what about the second victim?

‘Well, the dreadful truth is that Kearne Solanke was one of Charlie’s murderers.

‘The five people in the car, responsible for the murder of Charlie Bartolo were, the prosecution say, Kearne Solanke and these defendants.

‘Kearne was one of the three who jumped out of the passenger side of the car, and attacked Charlie Bartolo.

‘But during the violence, one of his own team – in fact, it was the 16-year-old – during their joint attack on Charlie Bartolo, he stabbed his own friend Kearne Solanke.

‘There’s no reason to think he had planned to stab Kearne – but in the confusion and the chaos of the moment – no doubt, I’m afraid, in the excitement – his knife found the wrong target.

‘The CCTV will show you that Kearne got back into the car with the rest of them, and they all drove away.

‘But given the nature of the injury Kearne had suffered, it cannot have been long before they all realised what had happened, and that something was dreadfully wrong with Kearne, sitting in the back of the car as they drove away from the scene of what they must at first have thought had been their successful attack on Charlie Bartolo, their targeted victim.’

A police ribbon secures the crime scene on Titmuss Avenue in 2022

Police at the scene of the stabbing at Titmuss Avenue in 2022

Mr Emlyn Jones said the killers drove back to safe territory abandoned the car and dumped Kearne.

The 17-year-old got out of the car and went back to him.

In a 999 call played in court, he said: ‘Someone’s been stabbed bro, please hurry up, ambulance we don’t need police please, he’s losing a lot of blood.

‘He’s struggling to breathe, please, please quick, he’s losing a lot of blood from his shoulder.

‘He’s breathing but he’s losing a lot of blood.

‘His name is Kearne. He’s breathing, he’s alright, he’s just got an open wound.

‘You’re good boy, you’re good, just don’t think about it, you have to keep your eyes open, I’m telling you bro on my Mum’s life. Stay with me please.’

He told the operator: ‘He didn’t say what happened. I’ve just seen him on the floor.

‘He’s a friend of mine. We didn’t see anything we just saw him on the side of the road, we just bumped into him. I think it’s a stab wound.

The 17-year-old then went to a nearby youth club where he was seen on CCTV reenacting the murder, the court heard.

He was seen talking to another boy making stabbing and slashing motions and pointing to his head.

The 17-year-old later admitted to police he had a problem, he had a ‘beef’ with Abbey Wood.

‘And that, I’m afraid to tell you, is the depressingly petty reason for these killings – they arose from a sort of post-code rivalry between Abbey Wood and the neighbouring Thamesmead,’ Mr Emlyn Jones said.

The killers drove to enemy territory in Abbey Wood ‘armed to the teeth with large knives’ looking for a victim and found Charlie.

Forensic officers investigate the crime scene where Charlie Bartolo was stabbed to death

A forensic tent was pictured as police started to carry out their investigations in the early hours the day after the stabbing took place

‘As you will see from the CCTV, once he had been knocked off his bike, he stood no chance, and the defendants wasted no time in jumping out, knives already drawn to complete the attack.

‘The whole thing takes less than a minute.’

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the car hitting the motorbike head on before the attackers jumped out and repeatedly stabbed Charlie as he flailed around on the pavement.

The Nissan Qashqai had been stolen in Erith the previous day.

A video was found on Kearne’s phone of him filming himself vaping in the back of the car about 25 minutes before the stabbings.

Jurors were shown CCTV of the attackers earlier in the day on 26 November going into Thamesmead Post Office and meeting in a park.

The footage showed the clothing each boy was wearing as their faces cannot be seen in the footage of the attack.

The 16-year-old was wearing grey trainers, dark tracksuit bottoms and a new blue Moncler jacket with a distinctive red and white stripe around the hood, he said.

Jobe wore a ‘shiny’ jacket he swapped with another boy earlier in the day and bright white trainers.

The 17-year-old was wearing a grey and black beanie hat and a plain grey hooded jacket.

Bah was wearing dark shoes and tracksuit bottoms, and a dark jacket with white logos and a beanie hat.

Kearne’s street name was ‘Havoc’, the court heard.

Mr Emlyn Jones said that in the Snapchat video filmed by the driver of the car behind the 16-year-old can be seen ‘expressing anger or frustration at the way things have gone.’

‘They went to Abbey Wood to find a rival, they used knives to do what they’d gone there to do.

‘When they got back to car, what should have been a moment of triumph, however gruesome and grisly that may seem to us, would quickly have turned to some kind of despair when they realised what they’d done to one of their own.

‘And they would have gone back to Thamesmead anyway wouldn’t they, after all, they are Thamesmead, but given what happened to Kearne they’d have to get back there with a degree of urgency.’

Police found the Nissan Qashqai parked further up the road and took it to a secure compound for examination.

Two large knives were found inside, one with Charlie’s blood on and one clean.

A damaged motorbike of Charlie Bartolo was seen inside the police cordons at Sewell Road, Abbey Wood in south-east London

Police and paramedics were scrambled at around 5.10pm on Saturday to find two victims with stab wounds at Sewell Road in Abbey Wood and Titmuss Avenue in Thamesmead

Officers at scene of the incident on Sewell Road shortly after it happened

A video found on the 16-year-old’s phone showed him sitting on a sofa with the clean knife a few days before, the court heard.

The 16-year-old defendant, 15 at the time, was the first out of the car to stab Charlie, the court heard.

Kearne was stabbed as he dropped his knife while running back to the car.

Bah, Jobe and the 16-year-old claimed they were not at the scene and have been misidentified, jurors were told.

The 17-year-old accepted he drove the car away after the stabbing.

Jobe, of Sidcup Road, Eltham, Bah, of Mottisfont Road, Greenwich and the two youths, who cannot be named, each denied two counts of murder