Elianne Andam, the Croydon schoolgirl who died outside the Whitgift Centre in September 2023, was killed in a row over a teddy bear, an Old Bailey murder trial was told today.
Memorial: the now permanent memorial to Elianne Andam, close to the place outside the Whitgift Centre where she died in September 2023
Hassan Sentamu, 18, from New Addington, has pleaded not guilty to murder on the basis that his responsibility was diminished having been diagnosed with autism.
Opening the murder trial, the prosecution told the court Andam had gone along with her friend and a group of girls to meet Sentamu on the morning of September 27.
Her friend and Sentamu had split up 10 days earlier, and the meeting was planned to exchange their belongings.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court was told that Sentamu lashed out at Andam with a kitchen knife when he met with his ex-girlfriend and her group when she was on her way to school.
Andam was 15 when she was killed.
Jurors heard that Sentamu plunged his knife into Andam’s neck after losing his temper at perceived “disrespect”, rather than returning a teddy bear belonging to Andam’s friend. It was described as a fit of “white-hot anger”.
Sentamu has admitted manslaughter, claiming a “loss of control” because he has autism.
Prosecutor Alex Chalk KC told jurors: “Having heard the evidence you may feel that the catalyst for this dreadful attack was rather more simple: anger.
“White-hot anger at having been disrespected in public by girls, both by Elianne on the day of the killing and previously.”
The defendant left his home in New Addington armed with the kitchen knife when he took the bus from to the Whitgift Centre on the morning of September 27, 2023, jurors heard.
Chalk told jurors: “The purpose of the meeting was to exchange belongings. [The ex-girlfriend] in particular was anxious to recover her teddy bear.”
Sentamu’s ex-girlfriend, who cannot be identified because of her age, stuck with her side of the bargain and handed over a plastic bag containing his belongings.
But Sentamu arrived empty-handed, jurors were told. Chalk said: “Elianne was aggrieved on her friend’s behalf. So, at around 8.30am whilst Hassan was walking outside the Whitgift Centre, Elianne took the plastic bag back.
“It was a gesture of solidarity with [her friend] that cost Elianne her life. The defendant chased after her, cornered her and used the kitchen knife to stab her repeatedly,” the prosecutor said.
“He drove the knife 12cm into her neck, severing the carotid artery and causing injuries that were unsurvivable.”
On trial: Hassan Sentamu
CCTV footage captured the attack and Sentamu running from the scene and disposing of the knife. He was arrested at a bus stop near his home less than 90 minutes after the killing.
Jurors were told they would have to decide whether the defendant’s autism offered him a defence in law and whether it provided an explanation for his actions.
Chalk said the prosecution acknowledged “with compassion” the challenges posed by autism but he told the court that the condition did not amount to an “excuse, justification or defence” for Andam’s murder.
Sentamu had a “short fuse” and on the day of the killing, he came to the end of it, jurors heard.
Sentamu also denies illegal possession of a blade, claiming he had a “lawful reason” for carrying it.
“His calculated decision to bring a knife to the scene meant that the consequences of that outburst for Elianne and her family were utterly devastating,” Chalk told the court.
The trial continues.
Read more: ‘Our failure can be read on the headstones of dead youth’
Read more: Croydon in 2023: London’s borough with most murder victims
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
As an autistic person myself I say that autism does not in and of itself constitute diminished responsibility, and I hope that the Sentamu does not succeed in arguing his crime down to manslaughter.
A short fuse .. carries a knife – let’s hope he’s kept away from people
100% agreed, Thomas.
I’m neurodivergent, albeit not autistic, and I’ve worked with many autistic people on both a professional and voluntary basis, and I refute any association between autism, and Sentamu’s violent and misogynist actions. Unfortunately, it’s become a recent ‘trend’ for various individuals to attempt to escape accountability for criminal and abhorrent behaviour, of various degrees, by erroneously attributing their autism to ‘diminished responsibilty.’
As for what possible ‘legal reason,’ Semtamu had for carrying a knife in public, I am utterly mystified.