Three teens were sentenced to a total of more than 13 years behind bars following a brutal, caught-on-video machete fight in a UK mall, according to police and a published report.
The CCTV footage, obtained by the Telegraph, shows the trio lunging at each other with knives and machetes inside the The Mall in Luton during the Jan. 22 fight, which Bedfordshire police said was over a girl. By the end of the clip, one of the teens falls to the bloodstained floor, as people continue walking around the mall.
Che Stephens and Imani Pobi da Silva, both 18, were fighting in the shopping center when Stephens lunged at Pobi da Silva and stabbed him in the arm, Bedfordshire police said in a statement.
Then Sanni, who was holding a machete, attempted to retaliate, but his weapon slipped from his hand.
Stephens stabbed Sanni in the leg before taking off, police said.
Sanni and Pobi da Silva then ran through the mall, leaving a trail of blood behind, as stunned shoppers looked on, according to police. Both were treated by security staff before cops and medics arrived.
Both were arrested and charged, and Stephens was later taken into custody in London.
Stephens pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a knife at his June hearing. He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Sanni entered a guilty plea for possession of a bladed article, and was found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm and affray — or fighting in a public space — during his July trail.
Sanni also pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, and following a trial in July was found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm and affray.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for the bodily harm charge — and will serve a concurrent eight-month sentence for the weapon possession and affray charges.
During his July trial, Pobi da Silva was found guilty of possession of a bladed article. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Luton Crown Court Judge Barbara Mensah told the trio that they were “very lucky not to have ended up as fatality statistics.”
“That horrifying spectacle was not taking place in a film in a cinema or down an alley away from public gaze,” she said, according to the Telegraph. “It took place in broad daylight.”
“CCTV shows children and families going about their business. It was something they had to see.”
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