Mohamed Abdi Noor, known as Blanco to his friends, was a talented cyclist

A FRIEND of a man who died after being stabbed with a sword in the street has told of the harrowing nature of watching the evidence come out in court.

Mohamed Abdi Noor, 21, described as “funny, clever, and kind”, was killed in Tufnell Park Road in December when he was attacked by Sanchez Tate, now 18.

During an Old Bailey trial which finished last week, the court heard that Mr Abdi Noor had blamed Tate for knocking over his motorbike. The two men were not friends, but knew each other as they lived on the same street.

Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, who led the murder investigation, said: “The dispute started as a verbal argument between the defendant and Mohamed after Mohamed had found his motorbike had been knocked over while left parked-up near his home.

“This escalated tragically to physical violence, and was further accelerated by the fact that Sanchez Tate was carrying a sword with a 43.5cm-long blade and made the terrible choice to use it.”

Mr Abdi Noor, known as Blanco to his friends, was a talented cyclist, who would ride around London with friends in the Fixed Pirates Crew.

Jake Watt, a close friend of Mr Abdi Noor, and part of the group, described the trial as “heart-wrenching” after watching the proceedings in court. He said: “There was lots of stuff that I didn’t know about. And watching the footage of the attack, that was pretty hard.

A tribute from the Fixed Pirates Crew

“It was hard seeing Sanchez because I didn’t know him. Seeing him in the dock, he didn’t show any remorse. He knew that he had murdered Blanco, and the story that he fabricated was so far-fetched and unbelievable, I’m glad the jury saw through it.”

Tate’s legal team had argued that he was acting in self-defence but prosecutor Catherine Pattison told the court: “The level of violence was out of all proportion for what was needed to rob someone. It has the hallmarks of targeted, if spontaneous, violence against a known individual, whatever lay behind it.”

Mr Watt said that, following the murder conviction, he hoped his friend’s killer would be jailed for “as long as possible”, but he added that it “doesn’t really change anything in terms of bringing Blanco back”.

He said that it had been “very difficult” for the Fixed Pirates Crew to continue without him.

“He had such a positive presence within our community, and it definitely feels like something is missing now,” Mr Watt said. “He was truly one of the best people I’ve ever met, and hundreds of people would testify to that. Blanco’s family is so lovely, kind and caring and I can’t even imagine how much it must hurt for them.”

Sanchez Tate

He added: “The saddest thing is that he now is another statistic, and the statistics never show character, background or situation, and a lot of knife crime is unjust. These kids don’t mean to be killers, it’s a step and a choice that they’re going to regret for the rest of their lives.”

DCI Smith added: “I am also mindful that there are no winners in this case and Tate, who was 17 years of age at the time, will have a good deal of time in prison to reflect on the callous stupidity of his actions.”

Councillor Bashir Ibrahim, who is Somali, said the community was “hurting beyond comprehension”. He told the Tribune: “The tragic murder of Mohamed Abdi Noor can never be remedied and whilst this guilty verdict will not bring him back, I hope it will now allow his family to begin to heal following the unimaginable loss of their dearly beloved Mohamed.

“With Mohamed being one of three young Somali men killed in Islington in as many years, the Somali community is hurting beyond comprehension. All of us at Islington Council, as well as the Metropolitan Police and the local community must redouble our collective efforts to help keep all our young people safe.”

Sentencing will take place on 21 November.

Members of the Fixed Pirates Crew are planning to gather on their bikes in front of the Old Bailey to show solidarity with Mr Abdi Noor’s family on the day of sentencing.

As we did when the Tribune first reported on Mr Abdi Noor’s death, Mr Watt asked that we print this: “BLANCO FOREVER <3.”