News Grocer killer jailed for orange murder
Friday, 03 October 2008
Victim Khalilulah Naseri
A vigil for Khalilulah Naseri
A SHOPLIFTER who stabbed a greengrocer to death after being accused of stealing a 40p orange was jailed for a minimum of 20 years.
Delroy Brown, 39, was out for revenge after 25-year-old Khalilulah Naseri "publicly humiliated" him for taking the piece of fruit in Brixton on January 10.
Brown vowed to "spill blood" and returned to the shop two days later to stab Mr Nasseri twice in the chest as he shut up MS Nasseri Quality Fruit in Electric Avenue for the day.
Brown, of Stoughton Close, Kennington, admitted he was the man involved in the dispute over the orange, but claimed he never went back to attack the victim and was merely smoking a cannabis joint in his car nearby.
He was convicted of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey and sobbed in the dock as Judge Giles Forrester told him he would serve 20 years behind bars today (Friday).
Judge Forrester said: "This was a vicious and cowardly attack upon three men who were simply going about their ordinary daily lives.
"Khalilulah Nasseri was a man in his mid-20s when his life was taken from him.
"Whether it was you or one of your accomplices who did the deed is unclear on the evidence.
"However you were a party to a clear joint enterprise in which a gang was engaged.
"There was no motive worthy of the name. There had been a trivial incident two days before involving an argument about an orange.
"You felt humiliated and disrespected and so instead of rising above it you planned this attack.
"The sentence for murder is mandatory. It is one of life imprisonment."
Prosecutor Peter Kyte QC said: "It is hard to imagine but even in an age when human life to some people is ascribed little value this is a case of a young man who was murdered because of a row about a piece of fruit."
As police searched for him, Brown arranged a meeting with them on January 15 and was arrested.
In two days of interviews he claimed he had peeled the orange with his finger and he realised it was rotten, but the shopkeeper demanded 40p for it even though it was five for £1.
Giving evidence he admitted he was in Brixton when the stabbing took place, but claimed he was several streets away smoking cannabis in his car.
He denied ever stopping in Electric Avenue that night, but was picked out by a witness during a video ID parade.
Brown denied murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to staff at the shop between January 10 and 13 this year.
Email: newsdesk@slp.co.uk
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