Bardia Shojaeifard was found guilty of stabbing teenager Alfie Lewis through the heart on the way home from school in the Horsforth area of Leeds last November
The name of a 15-year-old boy has been given who stabbed another teenager in the heart in front of terrified families running through the school.
Alfie Lewis was heard telling the scissors to “relax” shortly before he was killed. Bardia Shojaifard claimed he acted in self-defence but the jury found him guilty.
The Honourable Mr Justice Cotter has lifted reporting restrictions so Shojaifard, who was just 14 at the time of the murder, can be named and photographed for the first time. He was today sentenced to life imprisonment and told he must serve a minimum of 13 years behind bars.
Turning to Shojaeifard, the judge said: ‘Why you chose to do what you did, no one will ever know. ‘You will have the opportunity to have a comfortable life, family, career and other experiences and you have taken it all from Alfie, who will be 15 forever when you end his life.
‘No matter what you say or do, you can’t get it back. But from now on, you can try to honour his life by making something of your life before and after. You are a bright young man and you must make something of your life to make Alfie proud of you. That is the least you owe him and his life.”
The judge added: “Knives used by young people have stolen so many lives and you and others must understand how dangerous this obsession is.” Without your interest in knives, Alfie would be here today.
Outside court today, Alfie’s mother Heather Lane said: “No sentence will be enough for what you have done. I will never forgive you. Alfie had my heart and when he was stabbed in the heart it killed me too.”
During the trial, Leeds Crown Court heard that the defendant had been as “cheerful and talkative” as usual in his last lesson of the day before stabbing 15-year-old Alfie in the heart on his way home from school. The court heard evidence from a friend of the defendant who was returning from school with him on the day of Alfie’s death.
The witness said nothing unusual had happened to the defendant that day and he had not mentioned Alfie or been worried about anything. He told the jury they had seen Alfie walking alone near a crossroads near a primary school.
A pupil witness said: “We would usually just push through the gates of the primary school but as we were walking (the defendant) just cut me off in the direction of Alfie.” I was really confused as to why he just left me, so I just kept walking.” The witness said the defendant seemed “more focused” when he saw Alfie.
He told the court that as he left he heard Alfie shout: “Relax.” The witness said: “I turned around and saw [the defendant] holding a knife and attacking Alfie.” He said Alfie was walking backwards at this point, adding: “After (the defendant) stabbed Alfie he just ran away.”
Under cross-examination by Nicholas Lumley CC, defending, the witness agreed he “must have missed the beginning of what happened” as he had his back to Alfie and the defendant. He said he had never seen the knife before and did not know where it had been before it ended up in the defendant’s hand.
The girl who saw the incident told jurors she saw the boy. She said he was “standing there innocently” and another boy was walking towards him. In a recorded interview in court, she said: “I don’t know what he was doing, but he was standing there, he was doing nothing, and another guy came up to him.”
“They started pushing each other. The one in the grey suit fell to the ground and screamed. He said, “Relax.” He fell on his back with his knees raised. The girl said she only saw the other boy, who was wearing a school uniform, from behind, but saw him slash three times with the knife.
“You could tell it was a knife because it was very sharp,” she told the court. The witness said the boy in grey “put his hands up in the air” and appeared to be trying to push the other boy back. She added: “I was very scared at that moment. I didn’t see every detail. I just thought, ‘Call the police or something.’ I was too scared to do anything.
A woman walking to pick up the children from school said she saw two boys “kind of fighting” and witnessed one of them “punch [Alfie] in the chest”. She told the court: “I’m not sure what the argument was about. However, Alfie personally did nothing to start a fight with him. Alfie appeared innocent, he did not raise a fist at him.
When asked by Mr Lumley if Alfie kicked the defendant, she replied: “Alfie offered no resistance. He was scared for his life and it showed.” The jury had previously heard of two other incidents involving Alfie and the defendant. Prosecutor Craig Hassall said one occurred in July 2023 when Alfie intervened in a fight with the defendant and the second occurred on Halloween when Alfie claimed the defendant threw a firework at him
Mr Hassall told jurors on the day of his death that Alfie the defendant, who was 14, was walking down the street at the end of the school day to meet friends. At that time, he attacked him with a 13 cm long kitchen knife that he had brought from home.
He said witnesses recalled Alfie looking “surprised and shocked” and saying to the defendant: “What are you doing?” as the incident occurred near St Margaret’s Primary School, Town Street, Horsforth, just before 3pm on November 7, 2023. Mr Hassell told the jury all witnesses “consistently” said Alfie was “not the aggressor” that day. “Some witnesses said Alfie seemed surprised and shocked at what (the defendant) was doing. Some of them remember Alfie asking (the defendant): “What are you doing?” None of the witnesses heard Alfie shout or threaten (the defendant).
“To the extent that witnesses have seen Alfie do anything to [the defendant], they describe him as trying in vain to defend himself against [the defendant’s] knife.” After the jury found the teenager guilty, Alfie Lewis’ brother Anthony thanked jurors “for coming to what we believe to be a reasonable and obvious conclusion that Alfie posed no threat to anyone around him” and his death was meaningless.
Victim impact statements were read to the court during sentencing. Alfie’s brother Anthony said: “Losing Alfie has changed my life and nothing will be the same. My heart is broken and our family’s heart is broken. Alfie was such a loving and caring little man and he has been taken from us. Don’t get me wrong – he had his moments but what child doesn’t? Whatever those moments were, he didn’t deserve it…
“I’ve had sleepless nights hearing my mum cry as she fell asleep. I have to deal with the most important person in my life and Alfie’s life has completely fallen apart. I miss Alfie’s 12 phone calls a day, the evenings we played FIFA together, his smile, his love and care, his irritation – everything I love you so much Alfie.”
