A MAN has been jailed today for 27 years for the murder of a young father in an unprovoked knife attack in the food court at Lakeside regional shopping centre.

Twenty-four year-old Muhammad Khan, of no fixed address in Ilford, was convicted in May of the murder of Michael Ugwa from Rainham.

He appeared for sentencing today (Friday, 28 July) at Basildon Crown Court and was given a life sentence, with parole not to be considered until he has served 27 years.

Also sentenced today were Brandon Lutchminsing, 21, of Grafton Road, Dagenham, and his girlfriend Shannon Weston, 21, of Paddocks Close, Canewdon.

After a brief interaction with a man, described as the man in white trainers in he court, who appears lucky not to have been a victim himself, Lutchmunsing confronted Mr Ugwa who he said had 'flirted'; with Weston. That sparked the deadly confrontation thoug Mr Ugwa was shown to have played no aggresive part in it.

He was attacked by Khan and Lutchminsing, and after attempting to defend himself by throwing a chair at his assailants, was stabbed under his arm, through his ribs and the wound punctured his heart.

The attackers then ran off, meeting up with Weston who had already left the area, and made their way out of the centre.

Meanwhile, Michael made his way to the top of the escalators at the entrance to the food hall where he collapsed and died.

The entire incident was caught on several of Lakeside's CCTV cameras. One view of the incident can be viewed here.

Lutchmunsing was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, having assisted Khan in the killing, while Weston was given three concurrent suspended sentences of two years, with 200 hours of unpaid community work, for assisting an offender

Today's court hearing heard pleas on behalf of the three convicted offenders from their barristers, but they largely fell on deaf ears.

Judge Samantha Leigh told the court that she was convinced by evidence that Khan had gone to Lakeside with the pre-mediated intention to kill someone.

She said: "I am satisfied that Mr Khan had the intention to kill, evidenced by his admission to Miss Weston prior to the incident."

The judge further dismissed pleas that Khan had not intended to kill, merely injure, saying: "Mr Khan struck out to Mr Ugwa's chest, one of the most vulnerable parts of the body.

"He entered Lakeside with a face covering on and he was in an aggressive mood.

Mr Ugwa died of 'catastrophic' blood loss at the scene as the two men fled. Weston drove the men away and helped her boyfriend to evade police beforeb they were tracked down and arrested.

Following the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Ugwa's mother, Lauretta, spoke to the media outside the court.

She said: "I am the mother of Michael, who was brutally murdered on 28 April 2022. Michael was a victim of a knife crime at the Food Mall of the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, UK. 

"My family has been shattered by this senseless act of violence and we are still struggling to come to terms with the enormity of our loss, even as we know that this is a void that will never be filled. The impact of Michael's murder on our family is difficult to put into words. His children, who are now growing up without their father, have been deeply affected by this tragedy. They miss him terribly and have been struggling to come to terms with his sudden absence.

"It breaks my heart to see how his now 2- year-old daughter, continues to look excitedly towards the door, waiting for her daddy that used to dance with her all the time and then breaking down into tears when she realises he isn't coming. 

"How his eight-year-old son, continues to wake up crying for his daddy every night. His seven-year-old son, still remains in shock. On Father's Day, a few weeks ago, both boys came home to recount how sad they felt when other children were talking in class about the things that they had done with their fathers. 

"His sisters and brother are still grieving the loss of their much-loved brother. The thought of the sibling you grow up with and hope you would grow old with no longer being there is unimaginable to so many people, but to Michael's siblings, it is the reality that they wake up to everyday. The pain of his absence is felt every day in our lives.

"I grieve twice more each time I see how Michael's partner continues to struggle with his loss. They had plans to spend the rest of their lives together, to build and grow their family together, but those plans have so tragically and irreversibly been cut short.

"As a mother, the pain of losing my son is unbearable. I never imagined that I would have to bury one of my children; that I would spend every waking moment suddenly expecting him to come back and tell me everything is ok; endlessly searching for his face whenever I am in public even though I know it is impossible. Oh the countless times I have listened to his voice in recordings and looked through his pictures, thinking to myself "how on earth did this happen? This can't really be true!"  

"My son was a kind, compassionate, caring, and very outgoing young man who is no longer with us today, and will be missed every day. He was the person to go to, when you needed a problem solving, a shoulder to cry on, just an ear that would listen.

"As I listened to the details of the trial, I was reminded of just how compassionate he was.

"Even in the face of death he begged them to calm down when he saw how scared the children and their families were at the sight of a knife being drawn in the food court of a shopping mall in broad daylight.

"He asked them, 'What are you doing, bringing a knife to a shopping mall?' It is extremely distressing to think about how many other kind and compassionate people like Michael have also lost their lives to knife crimes and how many families have been left devastated in their wake.

"The grief of losing Michael has further been compounded by the legal process that we have had to endure. We have been forced to go through a trial that lasted six very painful weeks during which we have had to relive the horror of my Michael's murder over and over again. Hearing every painful detail of his last moments was difficult for us to comprehend and to deal with, as a family.

"We listened to the evidence that was put forward - how the defendants tried to justify their actions on the day! Yet there truly is no justification for taking a life. Till this day, I always wonder what will make two young people leave their homes, armed with a knife, faces covered with balaclavas, and walk into one of the UK's biggest and busiest shopping mall, in broad daylight, unafraid, and end the life of someone they have never met before? An evident lack of fear for repercussions and certainly no inhibition towards murder. 

"To that end I would like to state that even after they are sentenced to prison, they will eventually be released back into society after serving their terms but unfortunately for Michael, the same does not apply to him. These murderers will serve their sentences and pick up their lives but our family will never truly heal from the loss of Michael. What Irony that they do a 'life sentence' while we actually get the 'death sentence'.

"Perhaps a change to impose longer sentences for cases like Michael's could be the way forward. The deterrence such an objective could create would most likely lead to a substantial decline in knife crime. People would be forced to consider their actions far more carefully in light of the heavier sentencing, that such senseless killings may cease to take place.

"My family and I would like to thank Essex Police greatly for their diligence, thoroughness and painstaking hard work in ensuring that Michael's murderer and accomplices did not evade justice. In particular we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Family Liaison Officers, Tracy , Steve and Ryan, without whose support our journey would have been a thousand times more painful. And of course, our immense gratitude goes to Detective Julie, whose effort was paramount to tying this case all together.

"We have hope and confidence that Michael has found eternal rest with Our Lord, and that we will get to be with him again when we pass. We also dare to pray that no family will have to go through our experience."

Detective Chief Inspector Julie Gowen who has led the investigation, said: "Today my thoughts are with Michael's family.

"They have shown a huge amount of dignity thought the investigation and court proceedings and while no sentence will ever bring Michael back, I hope they believe they have justice for him.

"Michael died following a chance encounter which escalated due to the actions of Muhammad Khan and Brandon Lutchmunsing.

"The confrontation played out over the course of several minutes but the fatal attack was over in an instant.

"Michael's death shows how quickly a situation can escalate when weapons are involved and that an attack does not need to be sustained or involve large weapons to be fatal.

"Khan had tried to claim he was carrying the knife for self-protection but the CCTV footage clearly shows he was in no danger and it was he and Lutchmunsing who were the aggressors.

"The fact of the matter is you do not go out with a knife if you do not have some intent on using it.

"Had he not been carrying it, he and Lutchmunsing would not be facing a long stretch in prison, Michael's children would not be growing up without their father, and his family would not be grieving the loss of a much-loved fiancé, son, brother, uncle, and cousin.

"I hope this case serves as a warning to anyone else considering carrying a knife of the dangers of doing so."