‘Brixton slasher’ jailed for life for ‘horrific’ fatal attack on woman

An “extremely dangerous” man has been jailed for at least 32 years for the “horrific” murder of a woman in a series of random attacks. Drug addict Mohamed Nur, 34, ran up behind Johanita Kossiwa Dogbey, 31, and stabbed her three times in the neck as she walked home in south London on 1 past

Two days earlier he had slashed the faces of two women and a man in what the Old Bailey heard were “unprovoked and random” attacks. Nur admitted murder and having a homemade blade on May 1 and was found guilty of three counts of unlawful wounding.

On Thursday, Nur failed to appear in court and was sentenced in his absence to life with a minimum term of 32 years. Judge Angela Rafferty KC said the killing was “random, vicious, horrific” and “merciless”.

Addressing Nur despite his absence, she said: “You stabbed her three times in the neck, causing fatal injuries. You didn’t stop until she fell.”

Referring to CCTV of the attack, she said: “It’s horrific footage to watch, but it must have been more horrific for those present to witness.”

She added: ‘You led a life dominated by drug use. You are a very dangerous man and the risk you pose is incalculable.”

Finding him “extremely dangerous”, the judge said that if he had not been arrested, Nur would have struck again. During the hearing, Ms Dogbey’s younger sister Laura stressed the impact of losing her “innocent, loving and selfless” sister.

She told the court: “To say it was the worst day of my life would be an understatement. To say it spoiled me would be an understatement.

“It hurts to think that no one was able to protect her from the actions of this man who snuck up behind her and took her life.”

She condemned the “selfish” and “premeditated” killing, saying her sister would “never hurt a fly”. Mitigating, Jeremy Wainwright KC said: “It is accepted that there can be no motive or justification for such a shocking and appalling crime as this.”

Mr Wainwright understood the victim’s family wanted to know why, but had no explanation to offer them. Nur, who came to the UK from Somalia in 1993, became addicted to drugs and has been homeless since December 2022, the court heard.

At the time of the attacks, he was living in housing for vulnerable adults in Vauxhall, south London, and had previous convictions for possession of cannabis, a firearm, ammunition and blades. Nur attacked his first three victims in quick succession in Brixton at around 11.30pm last April 29.

The victims – Rebecca Wilkes, Tomasz Kmiecik and Katie Matthews – suffered cuts to their faces. Prosecutor Julian Evans KC said: “In each case the victim did nothing to confront or challenge the man who attacked them. Each victim was attacked without warning and for no apparent reason.

“In short, all three attacks were completely random. There is nothing to suggest that the man who carried out the attacks knew anything about any of the three victims.”

Nur was wearing a distinctive jacket and top with a black hood pulled down the front – the same outfit he was wearing when he killed Mrs Dogbey. Graphic CCTV footage of Ms Dogbey’s killing was shown in court.

Mr Evans said that at around 4pm last May 1, Ms Dogbey was walking alone on Stockwell Park Walk carrying a shopping bag and a mobile phone. She was returning home after a trip to Oxford Street in central London to buy her mother a birthday present.

She was on the phone with her grandmother when she was attacked from behind by Nur. Mr Evans said: “It is clear from the CCTV footage that Johanita had no idea that Mohamed Nur was close behind her or that he was about to attack her.

“The attack was sudden, it was violent and it was without warning. It was completely unprovoked. Mohamed Nur repeatedly stabbed Johanita in the neck area. He did this until she fell to the ground.”

Ms Dogbey was heard saying “let me go, let me go” during the attack. Nur later fled, throwing his gun into a housing complex where it was later recovered by the police.

Members of the public called 999 and police and paramedics were quickly on the scene. Despite the best efforts of members of the London Ambulance Service, Mrs Dogbey died at 4.42pm.

Ms Dogbey’s grandmother had heard a “crash” while on the phone with her and alerted the victim’s father after the call ended abruptly. He and Mrs Dogbey’s sister rushed to the scene where the police informed them that she had died.

A post-mortem examination identified the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the neck. Last May 2, Nur was stopped by police in Brixton High Street in possession of a weapon fashioned from a piece of broken mirror.

When asked what he did that day, Nur said he smoked crack cocaine. When he was arrested for murdering Mrs. Dogbey, he said, “What, who is she?”

In statements read to the court, the surviving victims described the impact of the attacks. Ms Wilkes said she was “physically and mentally scared” and Mr Kmiecik described suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ms Matthews said she suffered from heightened anxiety and an irrational fear of strangers. She said: “I could so easily have died at that moment. I was just having a weekend with friends.”

Earlier, Judge Rafferty indicated possible consequences for Nur’s failure to appear in court, saying: “We cannot have defendants in such cases not appearing in court.”