Schoolboy jailed for a minimum of 13 years for murdering Alfie Lewis outside Horsforth school

The 15-year-old responsible was today identified as Bardia Shojaeifard, after the judge at Leeds Crown Court lifted a banning order on his name.

Shojaeifard carried a kitchen knife around all day intending to attack Alfie in November last year. When he saw him he plunged it through Alfie’s chest and pierced his heart. The attack was witnessed by horrified onlookers. Alfie, 15, died minutes later.

Shojaeifard, who ran from the scene before dropping the knife, admitted being responsible, but maintained it was self defence. He was found guilty of murder after a trial at Leeds Crown Court earlier this year.

He was given a mandatory life sentence today, with the judge, the Honourable Justice Barry Cotter KC, setting the minimum time he must spend locked up.

He told him: “It was clear you did not care who was watching. It was truly a shocking event. He [Alfie] had a long life ahead of him and you took that away.

“You have ripped their [Alfie’s family’s] world apart. They have a life sentence of grief because of your senseless attack on Alfie.

“Knives used by young people have stolen so many lives. You must understand how dangerous this obsession is.”

Shojaeifard previously admitted to killing Alfie by stabbing him through the heart, but said it was self defence, claiming that he was scared of being attacked. His version of events was not believed by the jury. He stabbed Alfie to death near to St Margaret’s Primary School on the afternoon of November 7 last year in front of horrified parents gathering to collect their children.

The trial, which began on April 22, heard that Alfie and Shojaeifard had previous altercations, including a fight in the months before the fatal stabbing involving the defendant and one of Alfie's friends.

Phone footage of that fight was previously played to the court and showed Alfie trying to stamp on Shojaeifard. Then a week before his death, Shojaeifard said Alfie had tried to rob him of his bag but he managed to run away. 

If you’d like to receive more stories like this and the latest news from Leeds, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter

Shojaeifard claimed he feared for his safety, took the knife from the kitchen at his home, telling the court he feared he would bump into Alfie that day. He hid it in the waistband of his trousers and carried it around all day.

He then saw Alfie at the junction of Church Lane and Church Road. Numerous witnesses said they saw the boy attacking Alfie with the knife, with Alfie walking backwards away from him.

Shojaeifard told the court that he felt he “had no other choice” but to pull out the knife and was “trying to protect” himself when Alfie tried to grab him. He stabbed him through the heart with the 13cm-long knife before running off and dropping the knife.

He was arrested a short time later. Passers-by came to Alfie's aid after he collapsed face first onto the floor. He was rushed to hospital but died a short time later from catastrophic internal bleeding.

Mr Justice Cotter said Shojaeifard told lies during the trial, and had showed “limited” remorse and regret.