A talented football coach has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man during a 'horrific scene of complete bedlam' at Westfield Stratford shopping centre just weeks before the 2012 Olympic Games.
A thrown yoghurt pot sparked the mass brawl between two gangs in June 2012, during which Liam Woodards, who had been out celebrating his 24th birthday, was stabbed, the Old Bailey heard.
Nii-Azu Kojo-Smith, 19,(left) who was part of Arsenal's coaching staff, lunged forward and knifed him in the chest in front of horrified shoppers.
As the victim lay dying, the fight moved on to Stratford Tube Station where one of Mr Woodards’s friends stabbed one the opposing gang members.
Following a three-month retrial, Kojo-Smith, 19, of Hackney, east London, was found guilty of Mr Woodards’s murder and was told he would spend at least 18 years in prison.
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| Bedlam': The court heard horrified shoppers had to run for cover as the brawl broke out |
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| The shopping centre is next to Stratford International Station and openedjust a short time before the Olympic Games. The Old Bailey heard it was busy at the time of the 'horrific fight' |
His lawyer Philippa McAtasney QC said: 'He was a talented footballer. He had obtained an FA1 coaching certificate and his future was set - all of that thrown away in a second of his behaviour.'
She said he knew what he did was 'very wrong' and saying sorry to the victim’s family was not enough.
Detaining Kojo-Smith for a minimum of 18 years, the judge Richard Marks QC said: 'The shopping centre at that time was full of men, women and children going about their business.
'It was a horrific scene of complete bedlam as many members of the public ran for safety into shops which swiftly closed their doors.
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