Four thugs who armed themselves with knives and Samurai swords to attack a man in Croydon have been convicted of offences related to his death.
In February 2021, four armed men broke into a flat in Wisbeach Road and demanded the occupants hand over drugs.
They slashed through an internal door to get to a room where three men and a 16-year-old boy had barricaded themselves in.
Once they got through the door one of them stabbed 22-year-old Lavaun Witter in the leg with a Samurai sword.
Lavaun and the 16-year-old, who was also stabbed, managed to run away but Lavaun collapsed a short distance away.
He died in the street a short time later.
Lavaun Witter (Image: Met Police) After almost four years and multiple trials later it can now be reported that four men have been convicted of offences relating to the attack.
In July 2023 Julian Russell, 26, of Sanfield Road in Thornton Heath, and Tyreece Wolfries- Parkins, 22, were found guilty of murder.
Alex Pasley, 29, of Paxton Grove in Coulsdon, was found guilty of manslaughter.
On Thursday (December 12) a fourth man – Tyreece Riggon, 24, of Armistice Gardens in South Norwood, was found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm following a retrial.
Detective Inspector Mike Nolan, who led the investigation, said: “A shocking level of violence was used by these men, who were determined to gain possession of drugs they believed to be inside the flat.
“Lavaun stood no chance against four men armed with large knives, including a Samurai sword.
“It is important that all four men involved in the Lavaun have been identified and brought to justice. “The streets of London will be safer now they will be in jail for a considerable period of time.”
The four men will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in January.
Police said after identifying the culprits they raided an address linked to Riggon, where he and Russell were arrested.
The subsequent search of another address linked to Russell recovered a Louis Vuitton bag belonging to Lavaun.
Police built their case on witness statements and analysis of the activity of phone numbers linked to them before and after the fatal attack.