Man jailed for fatally stabbing friend after WhatsApp argument over who was more ‘gay’
A man has been jailed for 21 years for stabbing his friend to death following a row on WhatsApp over who was the “least gay.”
Paul Akinnuoye, 20, fatally stabbed 19-year-old Jordan Wright in April 2017 in south London, after an argument on the messaging platform.
Wright had called Akinnuoye a “batty boy” in a WhatsApp group, to which he replied: “On your mum’s life I’m straighter than you.”
The pair agreed to meet for a “fist fight” on Hervey Road in Blackheath, where Akinnuoye attacked the unarmed victim with a knife.
Wright, who was autistic and due to start an apprenticeship in the construction industry, died later in hospital.
WhatsApp on an iPhone (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty)
Akinnuoye, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey in February 2018.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years this week.
In a statement submitted to the court, the victim’s mother, Katharine Alade, revealed that the trauma caused by her son’s death had left her feeling so distressed that she had contemplated suicide.
“You don’t realise until it happens to you how far reaching one moment of madness can be and what an impact it can make on your life forever,” she said.
“There is not one day when I don’t shed tears. I didn’t think it was possible to feel such physical, psychological or mental pain until that fateful day last April. I know I will never be the same.”
Alade also recalled how her son had endured challenges from having autism but was “happy” and “loving.”
Akinnuoye was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years
She said the condition had contributed to his “innocent” outlook to life and added he “did not fully take on board the dangers on the streets.”
“I could have dealt with him dying at such a young age through illness, but not by the hands of a boy the same age as him and over what?” she asked.
Jordan’s father, Neville Wright, said: “Jordan was my son, his death has changed my life forever. He was very loving, funny and a very caring person, as well as a very popular person. I think of him every day..of what he would have achieved in life – he is gone, but not forgotten.”
Detective inspector Jo Sideaway, of the Met Police‘s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “This murder left Jordan’s family devastated and was a big shock to the local community; seemingly over a minor dispute between two young men.”
