Boy, 16, posed as his own girlfriend on Snapchat then stabbed love rival in the heart with a machete

A 16-year-old boy has been given a life sentence after luring a love rival to an alleyway and launching a vicious assault. Kevin Biji, 16, attacked his 16-year-old victim with a machete after posing as his own girlfriend on Snapchat.

The victim, who has not been named for legal reasons, barely survived the horrific assault and was only saved thanks to emergency surgery. Despite his injuries, the child was able to cycle home to get help from his family.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Biji had bee attending the same sixth form college as the victim, and both of the teenagers had been going out with the same girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons and is referred to as Girl A. On April 9 2024 Biji had messaged the complainant posing as Girl A, the Liverpool ECHO reports.

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A message was sent from Girl A's account and had been 'inviting him round to her house for sex'. Prosecutor David Birrell said that the teen had been 'a little suspicious' and asked 'whether she was with the defendant'., and was not that she was not.

The pair had agreed to meet on a side street just off Hailsham Road in Aigburth. Once there Biji had emerged brandishing 'machete about a foot long' and attacked the complainant, lunging at him while saying 'that's my ting' in reference to Girl A.

Despite attempting to fend off Biji with his bike, the victim was stabbed in his chest. He managed to escape on his bike and cycled home, as Biji shouted at him to 'come back'.

Upon arriving home the boy shouted to his mum that he had been stabbed as she and his sister administered first aid.

He then messaged his 'on off girlfriend' Girl B and told her that he 'had been stabbed and might die' before being rushed to Aintree Hospital in an ambulance. There, doctors found that the machete had penetrated his heart membrane, causing a life-threatening build-up of fluid. Fortunately, the boy was saved by an emergency operation.

Meanwhile, Girl B messaged Biji and 'asked him what had gone on'. Biji replied by saying 'he came here to f*** her' before giving the chilling warning that 'he would do it to him again', as well as texting Girl A 'telling her to hide her mobile phone'.

Police visited Biji's home the early hours of the following morning. Biji ran to the rear of the house in an attempt to escape through the garden, but was detained by officers. After searching his bedroom, police seized a balaclava and a knife.

In a police interview Biji gave a prepared statement in which he claimed that he 'simply went out to speak to' the other boy, who he claimed started to hit him with his bike. Biji asserted that he had gone on to use the machete in self-defence, but claimed 'he didn't even know he had stabbed' the complainant.

But evidence from medical experts found that the boy's injuries were 'not consistent with accidental contact'. Medical witnesses added that the wounds had been inflicted by a 'razor sharp knife' using 'a lot of force, equivalent to a hard punch.'

A jury subsequently found Biji guilty of attempted murder after he previously admitted to the lesser charge of wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article in a public place. However, Biji had also previously denied that he had intent to kill.

He has one previous conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to an incident in 2022, when he was aged only 14.

Defendants under the age of 18 ordinarily cannot be named by the media. However, a judge has lifted these reporting restrictions following a legal challenge by the ECHO due to the 'great gravity' of his crime.

Lloyd Morgan, defending, told the court today: "Kevin wants me to express his regret, remorse and shame at committing this offence. The issue at trial was his intention. He accepted causing the injuries. If the opportunity was presented to him of restorative justice he would welcome that opportunity which is, for someone of his age, a very mature step.

"A sentence of life detention is always a sentence of last resort. That should particularly be the case with a young offender. He suffered many childhood traumas that impacted on his development, emotionally and mentally.

"While his previous conviction is serious and it involved the carrying of a knife, it was committed when he was 14 years of age and two years before this offence. While he was in possession of a knife on that occasion, he did not use the knife to inflict the injuries that were sustained by the victim in that case.

"He had been exposed to domestic violence. He was displaced from his parents. He moved out and was brought up by his grandparents until he was seven or eight.

"He witnessed alcohol abuse by his father. He lacked a positive male role model during the course of a difficult upbringing of emotional abuse and neglect. These are not excuses for his behaviour, but they do provide an explanation as to why this young man may have behaved in the way he did."

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "The defendant put on a balaclava and picked up the knife. He ambushed his victim. He stabbed him twice with the force of a hard punch. He wanted him to die.

"The victim continues to suffer physical harm, including a large permanent scar, and psychological harm. The facts of this offence are very grave. A pre-sentence report concludes that he poses a very high risk of serious harm to others. What I observed of Kevin during the trial showed nothing to undermine that suggestion.

"It was planned. The victim was deliberately lured into a trap. There was an intention to kill and death was only avoided, firstly, by mere luck and, secondly, by surgical skill.

"The level of risk is, in my judgement, regrettably very high. There is no reliable estimate of the length of time that Kevin will remain such a danger.

"Accordingly, the available alternative sentences do not provide sufficient protection. Although a sentence of detention for life is a sentence of last resort, in my judgement, not withstanding the youth of the defendant, I am driven to the conclusion that the facts are clearly such as to justify the imposition of a sentence of detention for life."