Elianne Andam begged Hassan Sentamu to ‘stop’ as he stabbed her in neck in row over teddy bear

Schoolgirl Elianne Andam begged her killer to ‘stop’ as he stabbed her in the neck in a row over a teddy bear, a court heard yesterday.

Hassan Sentamu, 17, lashed out at 15-year-old Elianne after he refused to hand back items belonging to her friend, with whom he had split up days before.

When Elianne grabbed a bag of his clothes in solidarity with her friend, Sentamu chased after her before stabbing her repeatedly. As Elianne collapsed, Sentamu fled, dumping the knife in a nearby road. He was arrested soon after.

Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown harrowing footage of the incident in Croydon, south London, in September last year.

And in a video interview played in court, Sentamu’s ex-girlfriend – who cannot be named for legal reasons – described how Elianne grabbed the bag and started running. She said: ‘He then lifted up his hoodie quick, pulled out something and I saw a big knife. I turned around for one second then I saw her on the floor trying to say “stop”, basically with her hand out.’

Despite the efforts of bystanders and police officers, Elianne was pronounced dead at the scene at 9.21am. Sentamu has admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the basis of ‘loss of control’ because he has autism.

His ex-girlfriend told the court she realised something was wrong when he turned up outside the Whitgift Centre for an exchange of their belongings wearing gloves and a mask, which was ‘out of character’.

She said she handed over a bag but Sentamu was empty-handed, adding: ‘I thought he was gonna hit me. I thought he had something on him because... watching shows and stuff like, Top Boy [a Netflix drama about drug dealers in east London], whenever someone’s about to get killed they always have on specifically black gloves. I’ve never seen him wear black gloves, it’s not cold outside. I was saying, “Where’s my teddy? Where’s my teddy? Where’s my teddy? Can I have my stuff back?”

‘He looked at me and rolled his eyes a bit and said, “I don’t want to hurt you”... not in an emotional way – like he’s warning me.’

Sentamu, now 18, also denies a charge of having a blade, claiming he had a ‘lawful reason’ for carrying it. The trial continues.