Boy, 16, 'died' for 50 minutes after being subjected to 'brutal and terrible' knife attack

Boy, 16, ‘died’ for 50 minutes after being subjected to ‘brutal and terrible’ knife attack

Aug 23, 2022

A teenager “died” for 50 minutes after being subjected to a “brutal and terrible” knife attack, the Old Bailey has heard.

James Bascoe-Smith cried out “call my mum, call my mum” when he was targeted by masked men armed with a “terrifying” collection of blades including a Zombie-style machete.

Then 16, he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” when the gang launched a “very determined and concerted” attack in Brixton, south London, on 23 February last year, jurors heard on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Edward Brown QC said two stolen vehicles arrived in Henry Road, Brixton, around 6pm on the night of the attack.

A Black Range Rover deliberately drove towards James, struck him and knocked him off a bicycle belonging to his mother.

He had been testing out the bicycle to make sure it was safe, the jury heard.

“Occupants of that stolen Range Rover and the occupants of a second car, a VW Passat, got out and he was attacked, in particular by three males, each using a potentially lethal weapon… before they then sped off in the same cars,” Mr Brown said.

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James’ mother, who was waiting at her door while her son took the bicycle out, received a call to say her son had been wounded as he lay on the ground.

Paramedics arrived around 6.22pm to find he had been stabbed in the left arm, abdomen and right thigh.

They desperately fought to bring him back to life after his heart stopped at the scene.

A combat knife and Rambo-style blade were among the arsenal of weapons recovered by police.

“In effect, James Bascoe-Smith had ‘died’ at the scene and was only brought back to life by the immediate and significant efforts of the treating medical professionals,” Mr Brown added.

His brain suffered a lack of blood and oxygen for 50 minutes – leading to “profound and life-changing” injuries.

Tragically the physical and neurological damage was “very significant and remains so,” the prosecutor told the court.

The gang “very nearly succeeded” in killing the teenager, he said.

Defendants Taiquane Lewis and Patrick Fox-Pinto, both 18, and Leon Rashid, 20, all deny being accused of conspiracy to murder.

Rashid and Fox-Pinto are further charged with having an offensive weapon.

A fourth defendant, Stephanie Paez-Lopez, 20, denies assisting an offender by helping to dispose of the Range Rover.

The trial continues.

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