Canning Town drug dealer jailed for killing Champion Ganda in Forest Gate
Amani Lynch has been jailed for 14 years. Picture: Metropolitan Police - Credit: Archant
A drug dealer from Canning Town with a string of convictions has been jailed for 14 years for stabbing a teenager to death while on bail.
17-year-old Champion Ganda. - Credit: Archant
Amani Lynch, of Vanguard Close, knifed 17-year-old Champion Ganda, 11 times in the head, chest, arms and legs within metres of Sandringham Primary School in Forest Gate.
The 20-year-old was on bail for another offence at the time and had 15 other convictions – seven for drug related matters, and four for violence, public order and possession of a knife.
Champion died after the brutal attack involving belts, a hammer and at least one knife on May 9, 2013.
The teenager, from Harold Hill, and a 16-year-old friend, who was also injured, were going to sell cannabis, when they were targeted by Lynch who had spotted them walking down Sandringham Road.
The mother of teenage stab victim Champion Ganda, Peguy Kato with her children, Bernoulli, Prince and triplets Kenan, Aanon and Nathan, wearing a t-shirt with a picture of her dead son . Picture: by Ellie Hoskins - Credit: Archant
The Old Bailey heard he was stabbed 11 times in the head, chest, arms and legs, dying where he fell.
Two of the strikes were so powerful they chipped his bones.
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On March 3 Lynch was acquitted of murder but found guilty of Champion’s manslaughter.
Judge Wendy Joseph QC said the killing was “not far from murder”.
“Some manslaughters are a country mile from murder, some are knocking on the door,” she explained.
She also told the court that never before had she seen someone so lacking in remorse.
“In all my years as a barrister and judge, I have never seen anyone conduct himself the way he (Lynch) has.
“He has either laughed or used aggression nothing short of violence in the dock.”
The Old Bailey heard a transcript of a phone call that revealed Lynch had called friends to “pack” the public gallery so as to intimidate other defendants giving evidence.
Champion’s mother Peguy Kato told the court: “I see the boy (Lynch) laughing and joking and looking up towards his family in the public gallery.
“He acts as if he is special and enjoying life which is something my family are not able to do since the loss of Champion.”
Judge Joseph said: “It is clear that Lynch even at that date (aged 16) had committed himself to a life of crime.”
Lynch is already serving for selling Class A drugs, and the manslaughter sentence will run concurrently.
