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'We are becoming a country of anger, selfishness and fear', says father of murdered Jimmy Mizen
Kiran Randhawa and Paul Cheston27.03.09
THE father of murdered teenager Jimmy Mizen today issued a rallying cry to restore "civility, fair play and safety" to Britain.
Barry Mizen spoke outside the Old Bailey after watching his 16-year-old son's killer jailed for at least 14 years.
After an apparently trivial incident escalated into deadly violence, Jake Fahri, 19, threw a glass dish at Jimmy which shattered and sliced his jugular vein.
Fahri, a drug addict and dealer, pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence but was unanimously convicted of murder and sentenced to life.
Mr Mizen said: "This country stands apart from most other countries in the world. It is a country of civility, fair play, fairness and safety. But we are rapidly losing that. We are becoming a country of anger, selfishness and fear. It doesn't have to be like that. Let's together try and stop it."
Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyon, who led the murder hunt, praised the Mizen family for their decency and dignity. He said Jimmy was the sort of boy whom every parent aspired to have as a son while Fahri was "a yob" from "an entirely different world of extreme violence".
Jimmy, one of nine siblings in a loving churchgoing family, was killed the morning after his 16th birthday. He had popped out to buy his first Lottery ticket and a sausage roll at the Three Cooks bakery in Lee, south-east London.
As he and brother Harry stood in a queue Fahri escalated a dispute with Harry into a fight with both brothers.
They managed to bundle him out of the shop but he kicked his way back in then flung a glass dish containing sausages striking Jimmy on the jaw. A shard of glass cut his jugular vein and carotid artery and he bled to death within minutes.
Mr Justice Calvert-Smith told Fahri: "A trivial incident over absolutely nothing ended three minutes later with the death of a blameless young man. The only person responsible is you."
Although 6ft 2ins and 14 stone Jimmy, who was doing his GCSEs at St Thomas More School in Eltham, was described as a "gentle" boy who had "not an ounce of aggression" in him. In a statement read to the court Barry Mizen said: "He was the shining star of our family and will always be remembered with a smile."
Fahri's previous convictions underline how his lust for violence grew. In 2004 when 15 he was part of a gang armed with a knife who robbed a boy on Falconwood station. A few months later he robbed an adult in Greenwich Park.
In 2005 he attacked Ellis Harrington, 16, in a dispute over money, slapping her and kicking her legs away so she fell and hit her head.
Addiction made a 'horrible bully'
JAKE FAHRI'S addiction to cannabis triggered his "extreme aggression" and "unpredictable outbursts", his friends said today.
The 19-year-old, who began smoking the drug aged 12, spent his teenage years "terrorising" pupils, teachers and "anyone who got in his way".
He began dealing on the school fields to fund his addiction. A close friend of Fahri's said she fell out with him six months before he killed Jimmy Mizen after he threatened to beat her up.
The girl, who wished to remain anonymous, said Fahri, known by his street name Dirty Detz, changed after he started smoking cannabis every day while at Crown Woods Secondary School in Eltham.
"He got into fights, got suspended, and was a horrible bully," she said.
Reader views (12)
i went to school with this guy and if anyone had seen what i'd seen during that time then there is no way you would allow this person to walk the streets. he would randomly punch people in the face, walked around with a stanley knife and made sure everybody knew, unfortunatly for jimmy, jake was never caught and punished.
people used to get on buses and get off if he was on there, thats how much of a threat he was to people.
- Jon, Kidbrooke, London, England
jake fahri was a walking danger to the society and it is very unfourtante that a person had to be killed before this monster was put in jail for life. poor parents living with the loss of a child. nothing could be worse than that. the system unfortunately waits too long before jake fahri like people are stopped. jake fahri like people should be restricted and restrained from moving around too far away from where they live to prevent this kind of ghastly attacks on innocent citizens.
- Kanan Krishnan, mountain view
Soft on crime, soft on causes of crime and soft on criminals. What do you expect from the political correct Labour government.
- Joe, Swanley Kent
The question I would ask is why was this scumbag was free to murder Jimmy Mizen our streets need to be cleared of these types of people. The Government needs to build more prisons so that this type of person can be removed from our streets so that innocent people are protected.
We should of course bring back hanging however our politicians haven’t got the bottle for it despite the majority of voters being in favour of it.
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford England
In the country where his parents originally come from, I am sure justice would have been swift and been more final. Perhaps an arm or a leg. With all these liberals in control of this country, perhaps he will be 'at large' in 8 or 9 years maybe sooner and he will be making headlines again, when someone else loses a son or daughter. When is justice going to mean justice.
- Bondy, London
"I get meals, gym every day, so just take me there". The words of another yob, Karl Bishop on describing prison. This is where Jake Fahri has gone to and where his family will still be able to visit him, and where his 'yuman rites' will be entertained 24-7. The Mizen family, however,will have to endure the pain of their loss and the certain knowledge that there are a squad of bleeding heart social workers out there who will plead that this sc*mbag needs 'educating, understanding and counselling' and should be released back into the community ASAP. Thank you Gordon Brown. Thank you Nu Labour. God help the UK!
- Joannie, London, England
Life = LIFE.
... and the Legal System wonders why no one takes it seriously any more ???
- Marianne, SW France
People are angry because of stories like these, the innocent party pays with his life.
And the thug was well known to the Police & in the system.
On four previous occasions was given the liberal soft approach,a pointless smack on the wrist.
Another bully laughing at society, 14 years is far too short, since he'd denied the charges , lied under oath (it was not self-defence) & only apologised to the Mizen family to save his own skin.
He should have got far longer, at least 30 years.
- Anon, Essex, UK
They say the evil little creep Fahri will be jailed for life and then say he must serve a minimum of 14 years. So why doesn't life mean life?
- Judith C, London, UK
The first step necessary to return to a civil society, is to make sure that those who treat the idea with contempt are punished. This especially means the violent, who create fear in all and terrorize those they live close to. Also the drugs pushers, who first turn their "customers" into mentally diseased addicts, who steal to get their next fix and then commit acts of violence because they are off their heads.
Any unprovoked act of serious violence against a person should mean jail time. Drugs pushers should be sentenced as if they had committed murder for personal financial gain, because in effect that is what they are doing.
- Nigel, London
I note that Fahri was an habitual user of strong cannabis. I imagine this means "skunk". A growing number of young (and not so young) people in this country use this substance and it appears to have a dangerous psychotic tigger in many. One of my relatives has had psychotic rages after excessive use of skunk. I fear that a member of my own family could be the next Jake Fahri.
The Mizen family have great dignity and moral courage. Barry Mizen's call for better values in our society is the right message. But will people listen?
- Danny, London
Dirty Detz? More like dirty little thug. I hope he suffers inside.
- Natty, London
