Father of murder victim praises work of Met family liaison officer

A man whose son was murdered in 2017 has praised his family liaison officer for supporting him through the hardest period of his life.

Michael Jonas was just 17 when he was lured to Betts Park in Bromley and murdered by six teenagers in an attack that lasted less than 120 seconds.

Following a sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court today, Michael Jonas Senior thanked Detective Constable Becky Pitcher for being by his side throughout the six-year investigation.

He said: “The murder team detectives worked tirelessly to successfully gain these convictions. Even though the case was complicated and lasted more than six years, they never gave up.

“My relationship with the police has not always been easy and even at the beginning of the investigation I was wary and distrustful.

“But from the day Michael died, Becky has been there every step of the way. She has answered our questions, guided us through the court process and most of all reassured us that her team weren’t ever going to give up.

“She has become part of our family and we will never forget everything she has done for us.”

The six men – all teenagers at the time of Michael’s murder – had previously been convicted at a trial in October.

Today they were sentenced as below:

-Nyron Jean Baptiste, 23 (27.07.01) of Queen Adelaide Road, Penge – life with a minimum of 31 years

-Divon Henry-Campbell, 23 (14.07.00) of Fayland Avenue, Streatham – life with a minimum of 18 years

- Sarraviho Smith, 24 (09.11.99) of Grove Hill Road, Camberwell – life with a minimum of 17 years

-Jason Smith, 20 (17.05.03) of Bow Arrow Lane, Dartford – life with a minimum of 12.5 years

-Jamie Marshall, 22 (13.07.01) of Burham Close, Penge – life with a minimum of 13 years

-Ryan Girense Brown, 21 (05.08.02) of Sydenham Road, Croydon – life with a minimum of 12 years

DC Pitcher said: “Michael was just 17 when he was fatally stabbed in a violent, pre-planned attack.

“His family are devastated by his loss but have shown the utmost courage and bravery to keep fighting for justice. They have come to court every day and had to relive what was the most horrendous night of their lives.

“Their lives will never be the same, but we know how important it is to them that those responsible will now be spending a significant amount of time behind bars.”

On 2 November 2017, police were called to a report of a man injured in Betts Park, Bromley.

Officers attended alongside the London Ambulance Service and found Michael with multiple stab injuries. Despite their efforts, he died at the scene.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as stab wounds to the chest.

Detectives immediately began an investigation which including gathering a significant amount of CCTV from the park and surrounding areas.

This revealed that at around 19:00hrs, Michael had been approached by five of the group as he walked down nearby Anerley Road, before all walking into the park together.

At 19:12hrs, John-Baptiste was captured arriving at the scene – phone analysis later showed he had been called to come to the area by Henry-Campbell.

Just three minutes later, by 19:15hrs, all of the defendants were seen fleeing the park on bicycles. The fatal attack had taken no more than 120 seconds.

DNA from bloodstains at the scene was also found to be one billion times more likely to be from Jean-Baptiste than from an unknown and unrelated individual.

None of the group ever admitted responsibility or provided any reason for their actions however the court heard that they had believed Michael was a ‘snitch’ and so carried out their fatal attack.

By early December 2017, all six defendants had been arrested and charged.

The case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) early the following year, but officers were determined to get justice for Michael and continued to gather further evidence.

In October 2022, CPS agreed to reinstate the original charges and the men were remanded until trial.