A killer identified by a single fingerprint has been jailed after attempting to evade justice.
Liban Ali was tracked across the UK by Met detectives after stabbing 44-year-old Andre Foster in a flat in Kilburn in December 2022.
Ali later admitted stabbing Andre in the neck during a fight between the pair, but initially attempted to evade police by leaving London immediately after the killing.
A murder investigation was quickly launched and despite leaving the flat as Andre lay bleeding, Ali was tracked down and arrested just three days later by a team of Met officers.
He had tried to escape to Nottingham, where he had an associate, but his journey via public transport was pieced together using CCTV and his location successfully pinpointed.
Also crucial to the identification of Ali as the likely killer, was fast time forensic work on a single fingerprint lifted from a sink in the bathroom of the Kilburn address. Because Ali was known to police having previous multiple drugs and weapon related convictions, the fingerprint showed a match to Ali when searched on the police database.
Ali was arrested in Nottingham on the evening of 23 December 2022, and taken into police custody.
On 26 December 2022 he was charged with murder.
Detective Inspector Jonny Newell, the investigating officer, said: “This is an extremely sad case of a man losing his life in a violent, unnecessary and sudden way. Ali accepted that he killed Andre in self-defence and also admitted a range of other offences.
“Ali is a criminal who causes harm to people, and he belongs in prison.
“Andre was very much loved by his family, who miss him terribly, and I hope that they can find some measure of comfort that the man who killed him will be behind bars for an extremely lengthy period of time.”
A spokesperson for Andre’s family said: “After a year of what felt like a torturous nightmare, we now have justice. The sentence received by the defendant does not compensate for Andre’s life nor will it bring him back. The person who took Andre’s life still has his life.
“Andre was not perfect, but he was not a violent person. He was a caring, loving and free-spirited person who touched the lives of so many people, he was loved. This senseless killing has shocked and devastated his entire family and friends. We are all healing from our loss.
“Anyone who carries a lethal weapon does so in the knowledge that their actions could result in serious harm or even death of another person. There needs to be harsher sentencing.
“More needs to be done to help stop knife crimes, more interventions in schools and clubs to educate youths of the consequences of carrying or using an offensive weapon, and in prisons to re-educate offenders on the impact of their actions so lessons can be learned.”
Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 09:55hrs on 20 December 2022 to reports of a man stabbed at a residential address at Gable Lodge on Mowbray Road, NW6.
Andre was treated by medics but he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
A special post-mortem examination held at Northwick Park Mortuary on Thursday, 22 December gave cause of death as a stab wound to the neck.
Liban Ali, 31, (27.12.92) of no fixed addresse, was also charged with drugs offences and possession of a bladed article at the time of his arrest for murder.
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 23 January, the prosecution accepted a guilty plea of manslaughter. Ali also pleaded guilty to S20 unlawful wounding in relation a separate matter that took place on 9 December 2022 at Fordwych Road, NW2, during which a man was assaulted with a weapon. At a previous hearing, he had also admitted to possession of a bladed article and two counts of supplying a Class A drug.
He was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment: nine years for manslaughter, four years for the two counts of supplying a Class A drug, possession of an offensive weapon and unlawful wounding in relation to a separate matter.
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