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Gang of teenage muggers who stabbed chef to death for just £12 on his birthday are jailed

By Gareth Dorrian

Published: 15:58 EDT, 23 April 2012 | Updated: 16:38 EDT, 23 April 2012



Teenage robbers who slaughtered a man as he celebrated turning 30 with his girlfriend have been locked up for at least 26 years.

Krzysztof Rusek was knifed through the heart after four hooded attackers demanded cash from him and his friends as they walked home through a London park.

Polish national Krzysztof died in hospital four hours later from massive internal bleeding, while another colleague was saved by chance when a blade hit bank cards in his wallet. Ruairi Bicknell, left, and Akeem Salako were convicted of killing Polish chef Krzysztof Rusek

Ruairi Bicknell and Akeem Salako, both 18, along with Ben Wiles and Stefan Morgan, both 17, fled the scene in Fulham.

They split up and headed in different directions before changing their clothes.

The four denied murder, but admitted manslaughter charges during a retrial at the Old Bailey.

They were each given indefinite sentences for public protection and ordered to serve at least six years behind bars.

The gang must convince a parole board they no longer pose a risk before they can be released. Krzysztof Rusek was stabbed to death in a Fulham park for just £12 on the night of his 30th birthday

Sentencing, Judge John Milford QC, told them the sentences had to reflect the public’s ‘abhorrence of the carrying of knives’.

He said: ‘Anyone who takes part in an enterprise of this sort, involving a preparedness, if necessary, to deliberately stab victims of robbery, and then flee the scene, not showing a shred of remorse for the victims, must be considered dangerous.’




The gang had been prowling the park ‘looking for victims’ when they targeted Mr Rusek in the early hours of June 7 last year, said prosecutor Simon Denison QC.

‘They were all hooded, they were all carrying knives, and they were all intent on using those knives to commit robberies together,’ he said.

‘The defendants took one victim each - knives out, pointing the knives at them - demanding money.

‘One of Mr Rusek’s group handed over all the cash that he had; a little over £12 in change.

‘We don’t know if Krzysztof Rusek tried to resist or if he did nothing.

‘He is no longer alive to tell us what happened and the others didn’t see it.’

The attack happened in a park area off Lillie Road near the West Kensington Estate around 2am.

Bicknell, Salako, and Wiles initially admitted they were present at the scene but claimed they did not take part in the robbery or know their companions had knives.

Morgan insisted he had not been present.

Mr Rusek, who worked at the Ibis hotel in Lillie Road, came to the UK from Poland eight years ago.

He was intending to become a builder and was living in Neasden, north-west London.

In a statement read to the court, his parents said: ‘Suffering the loss of Krzysztof is undoubtedly one of the most difficult experiences to have to go through.

‘We have to cope with difficult emotions and completely rebuild our world.

'When we learned of the death of our son, our world collapsed.

‘Krzysztof was just 30 and had his whole life before him.’ CCTV images show two of the gang shortly before the attack; One of them is clearly brandishing a knife All four of the gang before the southwest London attack in June last year; they made £12 from their crime

The statement adds: ‘Our hearts burst when we go to the cemetery and look at his grave with the inscription and wonder, “Why him?”’

His girlfriend Martyna Parzynska, who was also threatened by the killers, said: ‘I was witness to an event which should never have happened.

‘It was the day of my boyfriend’s birthday. It was his last birthday because during the night he was murdered. He was a splendid, sensitive man and full of life.

‘Krzysztof dreamed of starting his own business but now he will never realise those dreams, and others, because they were taken away from his, along with his life, just like the chance of our future together.’

Salako and Bicknell both have previous convictions for a fraud, after posing as charity collectors and pocketing the money raised.

Drug dealer Salako also has convictions for theft, drug possession and carrying a lock-knife.

Bicknell’s previous offences include theft and being a passenger in a stolen car. A police image of the broken knife used to attack Polish national Krzysztof Rusek

Wiles, who was caught on CCTV dealing cannabis on the night of the fatal attack, has a previous conviction for drug possession and has a caution from 2009 for carrying a sharpened screwdriver.

Morgan was convicted of battery in May 2010, after he punched another pupil in a unit for excluded students.

Bicknell, of Sinclair Road; Salako, of Talgarth Road; Morgan, of Star Road; and Wiles, all of West Kensington, denied murder but admitted manslaughter.

Their first trial was halted in December last year for legal reasons.



Gang of teenage muggers who stabbed chef to death for just £12 on his 30th birthday are jailed
