A hotel worker has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering Solomon Sarfo in Brixton Hill in February 2011.
Jamie Rickerby, 26, of Balham High Road, was ordered to serve 25 years by a judge at the Old Bailey on Friday (September 7).
Police were called to the incident, at the junction of Tilson Gardens and Forster Road, Brixton Hill, at about 11.30pm on February 27, 2011 . They found 34-year-old Sarfo suffering from a fatal stab wound.
Witnesses say they heard the victim shouting: “Help, I am being robbed” and then: “You robbed me, you stabbed me so come on…”
Rickerby and Sarfo were seen wrestling with each other before Rickerby ran from the scene. Sarfo followed him for a couple of steps, shouting “come on then, well you’ve stabbed me, so come on then, let’s have it”, before he collapsed on the ground.
Rickerby claimed he had been attacked by Sarfo randomly in the street. However, telephone evidence shows that the men were linked through a mutual friend. His DNA was found on a silver chain left at the scene which had been wrenched from his victim’s neck during the fight.
Detective Inspector John McQuade, said: “No-one deserves to die in the violent way that Solomon Sarfo did. Rickerby had come to the meeting armed with a knife and was prepared to use it for financial gain.
“Today’s sentence has ensured that a violent man faces the consequences of his actions and has been removed from our streets. I hope that Solomon’s friends and family can now move on with their grief.”
