WhatsApp 'gay' row stabbing: Man jailed for 21 years Published duration 14 June 2018

image copyright Met Police image caption Jordan Wright died after a fight last April in Shooters Hill, south-east London

A student has been jailed for 21 years for killing his 19-year-old friend over an "utterly trivial" WhatsApp argument.

Paul Akinnuoye and Jordan Wright traded "gay" insults on a group chat on 19 April 2017 before the argument escalated into a fight in Shooters Hill, south-east London.

Mr Wright, who was described as "loving" and "very caring", was fatally stabbed in that fight.

Akinnuoye, from Kent, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years.

image copyright Met Police image caption Paul Akinnuoye has been sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in jail

Mr Wright, who had come unarmed as he regarded it as a "fist fight", died of his stab injuries the same day.

His mother Katharine Alade said her son's autism meant he was "not realistic and did not understand the complexities of life and what was going on", adding that he "did not fully take on board the dangers on the streets".

"There is not one day when I don't shed tears," she said.

image copyright Met Police image caption More than 600 people came to Mr Wright's funeral, his mother said

His father Neville Wright said his son's death had changed his life "forever", adding: "I think of him every day - of what he would have achieved in life. He is gone, but not forgotten."

'Recoil in horror'

Sentencing, Judge Philip Katz QC said: "This is another family devastated by the untimely death of a young man stabbed to death in public.

"The trigger for this murder was an utterly trivial dispute on a WhatsApp group chat which involved you, Jordan and others."

He condemned the defendant's friends on WhatsApp who encouraged the fight, saying in hindsight one could only "recoil in horror".

"Jordan lost his life as a result of this pathetic goading on social media, Jordan's death was as pointless as it was tragic," he said.

He told the defendant: "Unlike you, he had an innocent outlook on life and did not fully take on board the dangers of knife crime and violence."

In mitigation, John Femi-Ola QC said Akinnuoye was an A-grade student who came from an academic family and had thrown away the opportunity to study pharmacy at Brighton University.