Man gets 21-year jail sentence for killing friend after quarrel over who’s straighter

A London court handed down a minimum 21-year jail sentence to a man who stabbed his friend over a disagreement over who was straighter.

Paul Akinnuoye, 20 (pictured above), from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, killed 19-year-old Jordan Wright (below) on 19 April last year.

Jordan Wright

The pair called each other homophobic insults on a WhatsApp group called Ice City Boyz. Akinnuoye called Wright a “batty boy”, claiming that Wright was on “another guy’s dick”. Wright then responded: “On your mum’s life, I’m straighter than you.”

The argument over who was least gay escalated. This led to the pair agreeing to a fight in Shooters Hill, south-east London. Wright thought it would just be a fist fight, but Akinnuoye armed himself with a small knife. Akinnuoye then stabbed Wright repeatedly. He collapsed and later died.

Judge Philip Katz QC said during the sentencing: “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.”

The judge continued: “Jordan lost his life as a result of this pathetic goading on social media. Jordan’s death was as pointless as it was tragic.”

Wright’s mother, Katharine Alade, revealed her son was autistic and “did not fully take on board the dangers on the street.” She continued: “There is not one day when I don’t shed tears. I didn’t think it was possible to feel such physical, psychological or mental pain until that fateful day last April. I know I will never be the same.”

In sentencing, Judge Katz turned to 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.”