The 15-year-old was killed last September (Image: MyLondon/BPM Media)
A teenager who killed a 15-year-old girl in South London after a row over a teddy bear has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 23 years. Hassan Sentamu, 18, from New Addington, was found guilty of Elianne Andam and possessing a knife at the Old Bailey in January. A jury rejected his claim that autism affected his ability to exercise self-control.
Sentamu returned to court today and was sentenced by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. Elianne was killed after standing up for her friend, who had recently broken up with Sentamu, said, leading her to be fatally stabbed outside the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon on September 27, 2023. The popular schoolgirl had accompanied her friend to meet the 18-year-old to retrieve her belongings – including a teddy bear and love letters – following the breakup.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: “Elianne was 15 when you murdered her she will always remain just 15 she will never realise the potential of her life.”
She described Elianne as a “hardworking, happy girl who lived life to the full”. The judge continued: “The pain of her loss to her parents and younger brother is indescribable. Her father says she was a kind beautiful girl. Her mum recalls her big dreams to change the world and become a lawyer and fight for justice.”
Mrs Cheema-Grub added how a mural had been set up for Elianne in Croydon, near where she was killed. She added: “It’s presence marks the determination of the community as forcefully as they can – put the knives down.”
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In a victim impact statement, Elianne’s mother Dorcas Andam said she was the “kindest, most loving daughter” who was “vibrant, creative, and purposeful” and loved to sing and braid hair.
She said: “Now the music has stopped, the laughter is gone. All that remains is a deafening silence.”
Addressing Sentamu, she said he had ruined her life when he killed her daughter in the most “deliberate”, “senseless” and “evil” way.
Elianne was full of potential, had dreams of becoming a lawyer and would have gone on to do “the greatest things” if her life had not been taken, Mrs Andam said.
She added: “The question that forever haunts me is why. .. What did she ever do to deserve such cruelty?”
Hassan Sentamu was found guilty of murder and knife possession in January (Image: SWNS)
When he turned up empty-handed, Elianne was caught on CCTV challenging Sentamu before grabbing his bag of clothes and running away with it. Detective Chief Inspector at the Met, Becky Woodsford said the action “wasn’t done with malice” but “in solidarity with her friend” during the trial in January.
“We have heard in court and seen on CCTV [that] Elianne was laughing when she did this,” Ms Woodsford told the PA News Agency. “We can see the smile on her face. [She was] standing up and doing what she thought was right.”
She added that it was only known to Sentamu why he reacted with violence to the prank, after meeting the 15-year-olds already armed with a kitchen knife, a mask and gloves.
The court also heard that the 18-year-old had been “seething” over a prior incident, when he was splashed with water during another meet-up at the shopping centre.
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Elianne’s family described her as “vibrant, creative and purposeful” (Image: PA)
Elianne was chased and repeatedly stabbed in front of horrified shoppers in south London. Police arrested Sentamu less than two hours later, thanks to witness accounts from her “traumatised” friends.
In a victim impact statement, her mother Dorcas Andam described her as the “kindest, most loving daughter” who was “vibrant, creative, and purposeful” and loved to sing and braid hair.
“Every morning I wake up to a house that will never feel whole again. I feel the weight of her absence in every corner of my life.”I will never see her become the lawyer she could have been. Instead I’m left with an emptiness that will never be filled. Words can’t express the deep pain I live with daily. I cry all the time – everything reminds me of Elianne,” she addded.
“Elianne was beautiful and her beauty was not just skin deep. Elianne was a big sister, niece aunt cousin, granddaughter, my only daughter.”
Addressing Sentamu, she said: “You brutally murdered her in the most humiliating way in broad daylight. Mercilessly killing her on the floor as she begged for mercy. You walked away showing no remorse as if her life meant nothing.
“You did not only kill Elianne, you killed me mentally and emotionally. We are left with nothing but pictures videos. Your actions were senseless and evil.”
“Now the music has stopped, the laughter is gone. All that remains is a deafening silence,” she added.
“The question that forever haunts me is why. .. What did she ever do to deserve such cruelty?”
Elianne’s cousin Denzil Larbi also told the 18-year-old that he had committed “the most monstrous, evil act imaginable” and would forever be the “villain in our story”.
“To see a 15-year-old lying in a mortuary is something no family should have to endure. People say time is the greatest healer. I cannot see how time will ever heal this kind of wound. Time will never bring her back,” he said.
Prosecutor Ben Lloyd told the court of an incident in which Sentamu assaulted a child since he had been on remand at Oakhill secure training centre.
He said the victim approached Sentamu, tapped him on the arm, and the defendant responded by punching and knocking him to the floor.
In mitigation, defence barrister Pavlos Panayi KC said: “A crime as horrific as this leaves no real room for advocacy. There are no words that can possibly minimise, justify or excuse anything Hassan Sentamu did.”
Referring to Sentamu’s troubled background, he said: “Hassan’s violent streak, his anger, his outbursts, did not come out of nowhere. He was not born with them. They come from his lived experiences from when he was a little boy.”
He added: “He has enough good in himself to recognise and hate himself for it.”