Hussain Chaudhry: Teenagers convicted of killing law student in designer coat robbery

Two teenagers have been convicted of robbing and killing a law student after they went to his east London to steal designer coats.

Hussain Chaudhry, 18, was fatally stabbed in front of his family who tried to fight off the thugs attacking him.

Marvin Ward and Alex Morris, both 18 and from Ilford, were found guilty of manslaughter on Friday after a seven-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Morris was also found guilty of possession of a machete in a public place. They were both also found guilty of maliciously wounding Hussain’s mother and brother during the incident in Walthamstow.

Anthony Nguyen, 18, from Belvedere was found guilty of assisting an offender.

They will be sentenced on February 4 next year.

The court heard that Ward and Morris had agreed to meet Hussain on March 17 t his home address in Lea Bridge Road to buy a designer jacket that he had advertised for sale on social media.

They went inside Hussain’s home after Morris asked if he had a jacket in a smaller size.

After initially appearing willing to pay for the jacket, Ward and Morris then got out knives and threatened Hussain.

Ward ordered a cab to pick them up while Morris demanded to go upstairs into the student’s room.

Morris began searching the home for more jackets while Ward held Hussain at knifepoint in the family sitting room.

Hussain heard his mother arriving home and went to protect her from the intruders.

His two brothers came out of their rooms and managed to detain Morris.

A fight spilled into the street where members of the Chaudhry household were trying to detain Ward who had attempted to escape the scene with the jacket in a waiting taxi.

Hussain suffered a fatal stab injury to his neck in the fight.

His mother sustained a serious injury to her thumb and his brother an injury to his hand.

Ward fled the scene while Morris escaped from an upstairs window of the property and then ran away.

Emergency services were scrambled to the scene and an off-duty doctor also tried to save the student.

However, he died at the scene a short time later.

Homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command identified Ward and Morris through CCTV footage they seized.

Ward was arrested on March 19 and Morris two days later.

Morris, who was arrested at an address in Luton, had been helped to evade police capture by Nguyen.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Stubbins, the senior officer in the case, said: “Hussain’s murder was a tragedy that shocked the community to its core. His life was tragically cut short due to the actions of two young men the same age as him.

“It could have been anybody’s son . He was a hardworking student studying law at the SOAS University of London. He kept himself out of trouble and was selling some clothes to make some extra cash. Ward and Morris went purposefully to Hussain’s family home to commit a robbery and steal the clothes.

“They had made clear arrangements to facilitate this by taking large machete style knives, fake money and stalling things to get into a booked taxi. If things went wrong, they would happily and willingly resort to threatening or using violence. The circumstances of a designer clothing sale should never have resulted in his life ending in such a brutal way.

“This case demonstrates the devastating consequences of arming yourself with a knife in order to commit crime.

“Hussain’s family, who tried to defend and protect him on the day, have not only been left with physical scars, but face the huge emotional and psychological burden of trying to come to terms with his death.

“I would like to pay tribute to the family and all the witnesses who have attended court to ensure that Hussain’s killers are brought to justice.”