Alfie Lewis: Leeds teenager jailed for life for murder

A 15-year-old boy who murdered Leeds teenager Alfie Lewis in a stabbing attack outside a primary school has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 13 years.

Alfie, also aged 15, died in hospital after being stabbed in the heart and leg in Church Road, Horsforth, in November 2023.

Bardia Shojaeifard, who can now be named after restrictions were lifted, pushed Alfie to the ground before stabbing him twice “in full view” of a group of schoolchildren.

Bardia, who was 14 at the time of the murder, was found guilty of murder in May following a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Alfie was attacked near Horsforth School just before 15:00 GMT on November 7, 2023 while visiting friends.

Prosecutor Craig Hassall KC said Bardia “deliberately” moved towards Alfie before stabbing him with a knife he took from a kitchen drawer at his home.

At trial, the teenager denied murder, saying he was “scared” of Alfie following two previous incidents, the last of which occurred on Halloween.

Giving evidence, Bardia said he walked past Alfie's house with a bag of fireworks and Alfie told him: “Give me the bag or something worse than last time will happen .”

The accused said that when he was returning to school after a mid-term break, he decided to take a knife from the kitchen drawer to protect himself.

On Friday, Judge Cotter lifted reporting restrictions preventing Bardia's identification because of his age.

He said lifting the defendant's anonymity would contribute to the “vitally important debate about the scourge of knife crime, among young people in particular”.

During the trial, witnesses including children, school staff and bystanders testified, claiming to have seen Bardia attack Alfie without provocation.

Following the attack, Bardia fled the scene but was arrested an hour later by officers from West Yorkshire Police.

A knife recovered near the scene matched a set found at his home and traces of Alfie's blood were found on the blade.

Police said the handle had been painted black, and Bardia allegedly carried the knife with him to school all day, before finding Alfie at home.

In her victim impact statement, Alfie's mother Heather Lane told the court she was “absolutely devastated” by the loss of her youngest son.

She described Alfie as her “little sidekick” who never went anywhere without a football.

“I miss his morning kisses, I miss his evening kisses and everyone in the middle,” she said.

“I can't accept what happened because the pain is too much. I feel like I'm in a bubble watching someone else's life.”

She told Bardia that she would “never forgive him” and that no amount of punishment would ever be enough.

Passing sentence, Judge Cotter said people would wonder how a young boy “from a loving and supportive family” could commit such an “extraordinary” crime “without warning or any warning signs, except for a few photos of knives on his phone.”

He described Bardia as “seemingly normal”, with no interest in crime, but said he had “carefully planned” his attack on Alfie as “revenge for what happened on October 31”.

He said a witness described the attack as “vicious”, with Bardia “trying as much as he could to inflict some sort of damage on Alfie”.

He added: “Knives have stolen so many lives, and you and others need to understand how dangerous this obsession is.

“If it weren’t for your interest in knives, Alfie would be here today.”