Posh London hotel worker sentenced to life for murdering father-of-two (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Posh London hotel worker sentenced to life for murdering father-of-two

4:37pm Friday 7th September 2012 in News By Alice Foster, Reporter

A worker at a posh London hotel was today sentenced to life for stabbing a man in the heart in Streatham Hill.

Jamie Rickerby, 26, was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years behind bars for the murder of Solomon Sarfo in Tilson Gardens on February 27 last year.

Rickerby, who worked at the Hilton hotel in Park Lane, waved and blew a kiss to the public gallery as he was escorted from the Old Bailey courtroom after listening impassively to the sentence.

Judge Wendy Joesph said: "[Mr Sarfo] was attacked by you with a knife.

"When you stabbed him I am prepared to accept you did so intending to cause grievous bodily harm."

Judge Joesph said Rickerby carried a knife and intended to take something from Mr Sarfo on the night.

She said: "[Mr Sarfo] fought back and appeared to be on his feet. He screamed in all likelihood at the moment the knife went in."

During the earlier trial, a neighbour told the court how, on the night of the murder, he heard Mr Sarfo shout "I’m being robbed" followed by a loud scream.

The witness then heard Mr Sarfo shout "you robbed me, you stabbed me so come on" as he tried to give chase before collapsing to the ground.

Despite the efforts of the emergency services the father-of-two died shortly after midnight at the scene with a knife wound through his heart and liver.

Cocaine worth £8,000 at street value was found on Mr Sarfo's body.

Before leaving his flat in Clapham that night Mr Sarfo told his girlfriend he would only be gone a minute or two, but never returned.

Rickerby had previous convictions for possession of cannabis as well as selling heroin and crack cocaine.

Judge Joesph told Rickerby, of Balham High Road, “you were no sense inexperienced of the world you chose to move in”.

Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector John McQuade said: "No-one deserves to die in the violent way that Solomon Sarfo did.

"Rickerby had come to the meeting armed with a knife and was prepared to use it for financial gain.

"Today's sentence has ensured that a violent man faces the consequences of his actions and has been removed from our streets.

"I hope that Solomon's friends and family can now move on with their grief."

Mr Sarfo was a part-time garage worker who exported items to his native Ghana.