44 YEARS FOR JODIE KILLERS
TWO teenagers have been locked up for a total of at least 44 years for the ‘callous’ murder of Jodie Chesney.
Drug dealer Svenson Ong-a-Kwie and his runner Arron Isaacs were looking for revenge on rivals in a tit-for-tat vendetta when they killed the Girl Scout in a case of mistaken identity.
The pair emerged from the darkness and stabbed the 17-year-old in the back as she relaxed with friends in a park in Harold Hill, east London.
Both blamed the other for inflicting the fatal wound but Judge Wendy Joseph QC told the Old Bailey she was satisfied Ong-a-Kwie, 19, wielded the knife. She gave him a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 26 years, while his ‘willing supporter’ Isaacs, 17, got life with a minimum of 18 years.
The judge told the pair: ‘Jodie was a bright, warm and loving girl who could have given so much to so many, and who should have led a happy and fulfilled life. All that was taken
away by an act of callous, casual and utterly irresponsible violence.’
Judge Joseph also lamented the impact of criminals who had ‘carved up areas’ of London. ‘The dangers this brings to decent law-abiding members of the public is graphically spelled out in this case,’ she said.
Popular student Jodie screamed and collapsed in the arms of her boyfriend Eddie Coyle, 18, after the stabbing on the evening of March 1 this year. Isaacs – who can be named today after the judge lifted reporting restrictions – and Ong-a-Kwie made off in a fellow drug dealer’s car.
They were arrested days later as they fled from a house, with one crashing through a roof. Knives were seized from both their homes. After a jury found the pair guilty last week, Jodie’s stepmother Joanne was at court for yesterday’s sentencing. The court heard of the ‘ripple effect’ the murder of the teenager (pictured) had on her friends and family. Eddie said: ‘I’ve never lost anyone before and for the first funeral I’ve gone to to be my own girlfriend’s is incredibly hard. I loved her.’ Jodie’s dad Peter, who has given up a job in the City and seen his marriage to Joanne collapse, said: ‘I have no idea how I’m going to continue my life or come to terms with the loss.’