A man has been jailed for life after the ‘callous and cold-blooded’ killing of a 15-year-old boy during a family music festival
A man has been jailed for life after the “callous and cold-blooded” killing of a 15-year-old boy in a children’s play area during a family music festival at a London park.
Aderahman Boumzough, 25, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 35 years and 169 days at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday after he was found guilty of murdering Rene Graham and the attempted murder of another man. More than a year passed before Boumzough was arrested and charged.
Police were called to Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance Park in Ladbroke Grove, west London, at around 7.20pm on July 21 2024. CCTV footage showed Boumzough calmly approaching the children’s play area during a family music festival before firing a single shot. Further footage showed him chasing and attempting to shoot a man but the gun jammed and he fled.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Simon James said Rene was just 15 and “should have had his whole life to realise his dreams and aspirations”, adding that it is “impossible not to be moved” hearing his family attempt to describe their profound grief.
The judge said Rene’s mother, father and aunt all eloquently captured “the agony of every parent’s worst nightmare”, adding: “I can do no more than echo Rene’s mother’s words that no mother should ever have to stand in a court and speak about the violent death of her son.”
He added: “Her and the rest of Rene’s family’s heartbreak, shock, anger, and the emotional pain of being robbed of the opportunity of seeing Rene grow into a man, were caused by your callous and cold-blooded conduct in gunning down and killing an unarmed and defenceless teenager in what amounted to a premeditated public execution.”
He said Boumzough has failed to provide any explanation or motive for “such extreme and gratuitous public violence”, and failed to demonstrate “even a flicker of remorse”.
The judge said a video clip found on his phone revealed he was in fact “proud and boastful” about his crimes. The footage was of him appearing to rap about the firearm jamming, including him saying: “Don’t you hate it when your ting jams? I was prepared to take a soul, but Allah had a different plan.”
The judge told Boumzough his sentence is imprisonment for life with a minimum term of 35 years and 169 days.
