Teen 'snuffed out' in rapid sword attack, court hears

A man carried out a "brutal string of attacks with murderous intent" which left a 14-year-old schoolboy dead and five others injured during a series of unprovoked attacks, a court has heard.

- HOLLY EVANS

Marcus Monzo embarked on a 20-minute rampage with a 60cm Japanese sword in Hainault, northeast London, on 30 April last year, while under the influence of drugs, a jury at the Old Bailey was told.

The bearded defendant, 37, is accused of ambushing teenager Daniel Anjorin as he walked to school and slashing him repeatedly in the chest and neck. Mr Monzo has denied the teenager's murder, as well as four counts of attempted murder and one count of wounding with intent, which left injuries of "various degrees of severity".

Opening the case yesterday, prosecutor Tom Little KC said: "There was a clear intention to kill a number of people that morning on the defendant's part. It did not matter who they were, or indeed how old they were.

"Daniel Anjorin is the boy that was murdered. He did not know the defendant. He was just 14 years of age at the time. He had left home and was simply walking to school, minding his own business, looking forward to the day ahead when he was killed by the defendant.

"His life was snuffed out in an instant. In fact, most accurately, he was slain by the defendant with the use of this sword."

The court heard that the force used was "extreme", and that Daniel sustained a "devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury".

Mr Little KC recounted that the incident began shortly before 7am, when Mr Monzo is accused of deliberately driving his van into Donato Iwule on Laing Close, who narrowly escaped death after being "catapulted" into a nearby garden and attacked with the same sword.