Two teenagers have been sentenced to life in prison for killing another teenager who they mistook for a rival gang member.
Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, now both 18, stabbed Rishmeet Singh 15 times in November 2021 after chasing him down a road in Southall, west London.
The teenagers were forced into Class A drug dealing after racking up debts to gang leaders.
Balakrishnan had a previous conviction for possessing a Rambo knife, for which he was given a referral order in February 2021.
On the night of the murder, they took two blades and travelled on bikes to a rival gang’s territory.
They wore facemasks and put their hoods up to hide their identities.
It was heard that they deliberately set out for a “glide” – an attack on enemy gang territory.
They saw Rishmeet and his friends and mistook them for members of the rival gang.
Balakrishnan and Suleiman chased them through a park and “ferociously attacked” the 16-year-old after he tripped and fell.
A member of the public alerted police and paramedics, however, Rishmeet died at the scene, having suffered “unsurvivable” stab wounds to his head and chest.