Five men jailed for the murder of Antonis Antoniadis

Five men have been jailed for the murder of a man who they followed across London with the intention of robbing him.

Antonis Antoniadis, 27, was attacked on Sunday, 7 July 2024 after returning from a night out in central London.

His parents, Stella and Yiannis, have spoken of the pain of losing their son: “The loss of our child, so unjust and inhumane has left us devastated. There is nothing worse in the world than losing your child, especially in the sudden and horrific way that this happened to our Antonis. As for us, as you can imagine, we have sunk deep into grieving and sorrow. The wound that has opened in our life is very big and I don't think it will ever heal for us, as parents.

“Justice is very important for our child's vindication but especially to prevent other parents from finding themselves in our tragic position. It is also very important for our societies that need young, honest and decent people.”

Met detectives worked tirelessly to examine hundreds of hours of CCTV which allowed them to trace the defendants as they pursued Antonis in a taxi from a nightclub to southeast London, where they robbed him and stabbed him to death causing what would be fatal injuries.

Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, Specialist Crime South, said: “Antonis had been visiting from Greece with friends. Very tragically he never made it home to his family. This was a particularly challenging and complex case given the lack of CCTV at the scene and the movement of the vehicle, which had been driven by the defendants continuously throughout the night of 6 July and into the following afternoon.

“I would like to thank in particular Antonis’ friends, who had witnessed his brutal murder and returned to the UK to give their evidence. I would also like to thank the witnesses’ who came forward and helped us to understand what had happened to Antonis. I am pleased our concerted efforts to find those responsible has enabled us to achieve justice for Antonis’ loved ones, family, and friends. The sentences today reflect the severity of the actions of the defendants on that Sunday morning.”

In the early hours of Sunday, 7 July 2024 Antonis had gone with friends to a club near Oxford Circus. They left the venue at around 08.15hrs and caught a taxi back to Florence Terrace, New Cross, where they were staying with a friend.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being followed by the defendants who had spent several hours in the vicinity of the central London nightclub in a stolen car looking for victims to rob. They then pursued Antonis and his group for eight miles and more than thirty minutes back to New Cross.

As Antonis and his friends were attempting to get into their address, Sofian Alliche, Shian Johnson, Joshua McCorquodale, and Alfie Hipple exited the vehicle. Amin Alliche who was 17 years old at the time remained in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The group of four, wearing balaclavas and armed with large knives, grabbed Antonis’ bag before stabbing him in the chest and right thigh. The latter wound severed his femoral artery, causing significant blood loss. Antonis initially survived the attack and fought in hospital for two weeks before very sadly dying on Sunday, 21 July 2024.

After the attack, the defendants returned to their car with Antonis’ mobile phone. Amin Alliche then drove them all back across the Thames to the Northwest London area, where they later sold the device. After they returned to their “home turf” in Camden, they hid the stolen vehicle under a car cover, which they had also stolen.

While there was no CCTV of the attack, officers from the homicide team went to painstaking lengths to trace the movements of the defendants in the lead up to the murder. They examined hundreds of hours of footage, not only monitoring the significant period of time they spent hanging around outside the nightclub, but also their journey from central London to New Cross, as well as their movements afterwards. Detectives also recovered the car, which ultimately proved the defendants were responsible for killing Antonis.

During the course of the investigation several addresses linked to the defendants were searched. A number of weapons were seized Including one zombie knife, five machetes, two swords, two lock knives and seven other knives.

The group were all found guilty on Friday, 1 August of murder and conspiracy to commit robbery following an eight-week trial at the Old Bailey.

They were sentenced as follows:

Amin Alliche,18 (28.06.2007) of Bury Place WC1 – 22 years with six years for robbery, to run concurrently.

Sofian Alliche, 20 (20.02.05), of Bury Place WC1 – 25 years with eight years for robbery, to run concurrently.

Shian Johnson, 26 (14.07.99), of Argyle Walk WC1 – 28 years, with 10 years for robbery, to run concurrently.

Joshua McCorquodale, 20 (03.08.04), of Upper Park Road NW3 – 26 years, with nine years for robbery, to run concurrently.

Alfie Hipple, 18 (25.02.07), of Kentish Town Road NW5 – 23 years, with seven years for robbery, to run concurrently.