Ben Myles stabbed a man to death outside a Kingston night club
Ben Myles. Picture: Met Police
A local man who deliberately set out to stab and kill 22-year-old Kai Davis has received a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of murder.
24-year-old Ben Myles of North End Road was jailed for 26 years for the stabbing in the early hours of Saturday, August 21 last year outside a night club in Kingston.
Myles had been in the Pryzm club along with 23-year-old Joseph Barker and left at around 3.15pm. They decided to attack Mr Davis after seeing him outside talking to a friend. The motive for the attack remains unclear.
They attempted to hide their identities by putting on hoodies belonging to other people as they approached. Myles then took out a knife and stabbed Mr. Davis in the chest. He attempted to escape his attackers but Barker chased him and he collapsed after only managing to travel a short distance.
An air ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital but he died from the injury.
Myles and Barker remained in the area to dispose of the hoodies and the knife. Myles put the murder weapon down a drain but police officers managed to recover it using a magnet after he was spotted depositing it there on CCTV.
In court he claimed that the knife had belonged to Mr Davis and that he had suffered the fatal wound after a struggle between them in which Myles said he was trying to defend himself. He hadn’t made the claim of self-defence when he was originally questioned by the police as a suspect.
It was later shown that Barker was also carrying a knife and a search of Myles’s North End Road home had revealed that he had hidden another knife in a pile of jumpers.
22-year-old Kai Davis was fatally stabbed. Picture: Met Police
DI Mike Nolan, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said, “My thoughts remain with Kai’s family and friends who continue to try and come to terms with this tragic and unnecessary incident which resulted in the death of a young man with his whole life to live.
“That night Myles secured a knife during a night out. Why do that unless you plan to hurt someone? Singling Kai out as the target of his violence, he swiftly concocted a plan - dressing in such a way as to attempt to avoid detection.
“Both Myles and Barker will now serve a lengthy period behind bars for their abhorrent actions on that night.”
Myles was sentenced for murder at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, 19 October to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 26 years.
Joseph Barker from Clifton Gardens, Uxbridge, who was found guilty of manslaughter, was jailed for 11 years at the same hearing.
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October 21, 2022
