A man has been jailed for at least 40 years for the “wicked” murder of the schoolboy Daniel Anjorin during a 20-minute rampage in eastLondon.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, fatally slashed Daniel with a samurai sword minutes after the 14-year-old left his home in Hainault on 30 April last year.
In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Bennathan jailed Monzo for life with a minimum term of 40 years for murder and for attacking three other members of the public and two police officers.
Earlier, Daniel’s father, Ebenezer Anjorin, condemned Monzo’s “wicked” actions and described losing his son as his “worst nightmare”.
Speaking publicly about it for the first time, Anjorin said in a statement: “On April 30 2024 at approximately 7am, Daniel left for school. At approximately 7.15am I was informed by my eldest son that Daniel had been stabbed on the road near my house. I ran outside the house and just across the road I saw a hunched-up body by the side of the road.
“I did not realise that it was Daniel at first but, as I got closer, I recognised the school sports clothes and saw his face.
“He was lying in a pool of blood and had a deep cut to his face running from the side of his mouth to the back of his neck. He was motionless. I knew at once that he was dead, but I reached down, called his name and held his head.”
After a few minutes, he said, he called Daniel’s mother, who screamed and cried when she arrived home and saw paramedics trying to resuscitate her son, who died later in hospital.
Anjorin said he could not begin to describe the “pain and anguish” the family felt at losing Daniel, who was academically gifted and enjoyed sports and music.
“We will not see him get married or have children. All the normal things parents hope for their children. All these hopes and aspirations have been cruelly snatched away from us through the wicked actions of Marcus Monzo.
“It has been the worst nightmare experience of our lives. To have to go through the pain of losing a child in such a cruel and savage way. No family should have to go through this.”
In his sentencing, Bennathan paid tribute to Anjorin’s “calm dignified” manner throughout the trial and said no sentence would “begin to temper” the grief of Daniel’s family.
He added: “All the police officers behaved with exemplary courage and put their lives on the line to protect the public they served.”
Previously, the court heard how Monzo had killed and skinned his pet cat Wizard before running amok in Hainault.
He drove his van into Donato Iwule who ran away screaming as Monzo got out of the vehicle and came at him with a sword. Monzo then attacked Daniel from behind, causing unsurvivable neck injuries.
When Constable Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield tried to detain Monzo, he repeatedly struck her with “savage” blows, causing severe injuries.
He burst into the home of Henry De Los Rios Polania and Sindy Arias, who had been asleep with their young child nearby.
Insp Moloy Campbell cornered Monzo in a car park and ran in with his baton raised but was slashed on the hand.
Officers eventually detained the delivery driver who had become psychotic from taking cannabis.
Afterwards, Monzo, who had viewed far right and misogynistic content on social media, likened events to the Hollywood film The Hunger Games and claimed to have an alternate persona of a “professional assassin”.
A jury in his Old Bailey trialfound Monzo guiltyof Daniel’s murder, and the attempted murder of Iwule, Arias and Mechem-Whitfield.
He was convicted of wounding De Los Rios Polania and Campbell with intent.
He was also convicted of aggravated burglary and having an article with a blade or point. He admitted possessing the samurai sword used to kill Daniel and a katana sword found in his van.