Boy, 15, who killed teenager on way home from school, named for first time

An “outwardly normal” 15-year-old boy with “a worrying interest in knives” who stabbed another teenager in the heart on his way home from school has been named for the first time as Bardia Shojaeifard. Alfie Lewis, 15, was stabbed to death “in full view” of pupils leaving a primary school in the Horsforth area of ​​Leeds last November.

Shojaeifard, who was 14 at the time, was found guilty of Alfie’s murder by a jury at Leeds Crown Court in April. He admitted stabbing Alfie with a 13cm long kitchen knife he brought from home, but denied murder, claiming he feared for his life when he pulled out the weapon.

Shojaeifard can be named publicly for the first time after the judge, Mr Justice Cotter, lifted reporting restrictions preventing him from being identified on Friday. He said lifting the defendant’s anonymity would help “vital debate about the scourge of knife crime, particularly among young people”.

Mr Justice Cotter said the public would wonder how a boy “from a loving and supportive family” could commit such an “extraordinary” crime “with no warning or warning signs other than images of knives on his phone”. Shojaeifard will be sentenced later on Friday.

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