Teenage killer's shameless bid to get his life sentence cut
26.05.2024 - 15:41
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A teenage killer jailed for the murder of a friend over a drug deal gone wrong has lost a bid to have his sentence reduced. Yousef Sesay was told he would serve a minimum of 22 years in prison for his part in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Kyle Hackland in Withington in November 2022.
Sesay, then 18, was one of four teenagers jailed over the senseless killing. Manchester Crown Court heard Kyle was stabbed to death in broad daylight after being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He was targeted because of his association with a friend, who one of his killers blamed after he was 'set up' in a drug deal gone wrong. Kyle was set upon by the gang-of-four after they saw him walking with his friend, a man named James Todd.
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Todd fled when he saw them but Kyle, who knew all four, appeared to be taken by surprise by the brutal attack. Tafari Smith, then aged 16, stabbed him before Yousef Sesay and Lewis Ludford, both aged 18, joined in as Kyle was punched and kicked.
Manchester Crown Court heard that 17-year-old Alfie Benson drove the killers to and from the scene in a stolen VW Golf. After leaving Kyle to die in a driveway on Southlea Road, at about 11.30am on November 22, 2022, the four, some of who claimed to be Kyle's friend, arranged to be 'taken into hiding'.
Following a trial in June last year, Smith, Sesay and Ludford were found guilty of murder. Benson was convicted of manslaughter.
Sesay, of Denton Road, Audenshaw; Smith, of Lancashire Hill, Stockport; Ludford, of Aylesby Avenue, Gorton; were all detained at His Majesty's pleasure, the equivalent of a life sentence for juveniles. Benson, of