Chilling footage shows the moment a laughing killer rides away on a bike after stabbing a teenager to death and pushing him into a canal - before later writing a rap song bragging about the murder.
Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, filmed himself making a gun sign moments after he knifed Victor Lee, 17, to death for a blue Ikea bag containing weapons.
Victor was pulled out of the Grand Union in west London by two houseboat residents but bled to death on the towpath on June 25 last year.
Metropolitan Police detectives established that robbery was the motive for the brutal attack with Gookol-Mely stealing Victor's bike and his rucksack, which officers believe contained a number of knives.
Footage shows him riding away from the incident on the handlebars of Victor's bicycle as a teenager pedals behind him.
He also wrote a rap number bragging about what he had done. A notebook recovered from Gookol-Mely's prison cell while he was on remand in December 2023 contained the rap verses: 'Everyone on at the 8pm news, ITV, Sky, BBC; Broadcasting the stabbing I done.'
Gokool-Mely denied but was convicted of murder and robbery by a jury after a five week trial. He was seensqueezing a stress ball behind his back as he was found guilty.
Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, filmed himself moments after he knifed Victor Lee, 17, to death for a blue Ikea bag containing weapons as he rode away on a bike
Footage shows Gokool-Mely riding away from the incident on the handlebars of Victor's bicycle as a teenager pedals behind him
Victor Lee (pictured) was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal in west London in a 'shockingly violent attack' on June 25 last year
Victor - who was described by his family as shy, easily manipulated and at risk of being exploited by others - had met his killer having developed an interest in buying weapons online which he wished to sell for profit.
The trial heard how he had bought knives and a crossbow on the internet in the months before his death, which he intended to sell on.
Officers believe that Victor did not fully understand the harm that others could cause with the weapons that he appeared to enjoy trading.
A 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were also each charged with murder and robbery but they were both acquitted of both counts on Monday.
The prosecution told jurors during the trial that Victor appeared to have met up with the three defendants at the towpath at around 3.30pm and sold them a crossbow.
It was said the same group then met for a second time at the same location at around 5.30pm, after Victor was asked if he had any knives to sell, which is when the attack occurred.
There were no witnesses to the killing but one witness saw the tallest of the three boys - Gokool-Mely - pushing Victor into the canal, the court heard.
Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, was convicted of murdering the teenager and robbing him after a jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for more than 16 hours
Police divers in the canal under Scrubs Lane in west London, following the fatal stabbing
The Met's investigation linked Gokool-Mely to the murder through extensive analysis of mobile phones and the associated data, as well as CCTV from the area around the crime scene, accounts from witnesses and forensic evidence obtained from the scene and from Victor's stolen bag discarded nearby.
A knife was recovered from Gookol-Mely's home address, on which Victor's blood and the defendant's DNA was found.
The Met's homicide investigation, led by Specialist Crime Command detectives, made rapid progress, and Gookol-Mely was arrested along with two other teenagers on June 30, 2023. Officers charged each of them the following day with murder and robbery.
Jurors heard Victor had been buying knives online for months prior to the attack to sell them to other teenagers.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, KC, told the court: 'Victor Lee was just 17 when he was murdered last summer, in broad daylight on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal, near Wormwood Scrubs Park.
Met Police detectives established that robbery was the motive for the brutal attack with Gookol-Mely stealing Victor's bike and his rucksack
The crime scene at the Grand Union Canal, showing the forensic tent
'Victor was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest before, for good measure, being pushed into the canal. Two men living on houseboats on the other side of the canal were able to haul Victor onto the bank but, within minutes, he had bled to death.
'In the months before his murder, Victor Lee had started buying knives and even a crossbow on the internet. He had been selling them for profit.'
He said: 'There are no eye-witnesses to the murder of Victor Lee. One witness did see Elijah Gokool-Mely, pushing Victor into the canal but, but by that time, Victor must already have been stabbed three times.
'Nobody heard anything either. The first thing that either of the two men on their houseboats heard was the sound of a splash as Victor hit the water. I suppose you might say that Victor Lee had been playing a dangerous game. On the other hand, you may think, he would not have expected to be murdered by his own customers, to whom, after all, and albeit in a rather warped way, he had been providing a service.'
Judge Peter Rook, KC, adjourned sentencing Gokool-Mely until July 19 and told him: 'The minimum term you will serve in this case will be a long one.'
Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, the senior investigating officer who led the investigation, said: 'I would like the focus today to be on the tragedy that Victor's family have suffered and on the part that young people being able to easily buy knives and other weapons played in his death.
'Victor was a young man who was not directly involved with gangs or criminality - he had an interest in buying, fixing and selling bikes. He had energy and drive but sadly not enough wisdom. His family have told me that he had an inability to properly assess situations, people or threats.
'Having worked so intensely on this case - speaking to Victor's family and thinking about his life and tragic death - it will forever be a source of regret to me that this vulnerable but independent young man was able to buy weapons online simply by altering the date of birth in his passport.
'He was robbed and murdered when seeking to sell knives to him later that day.
'Apparently unable to grasp the devastating consequences of his actions, he probably regarded this as an interesting scheme to make some money. But, having met his killer after arranging to sell the weapons via Snapchat, this scheme sparked the events which cost him his life.
'Victor had his life ahead of him and his family have been torn apart by what happened to him. They are understandably still struggling to come to terms with his murder, and the events that led to his death at such a young age. My thoughts are with them today, and I can only hope that today's conviction can bring them some small measure of comfort.'
