A drill rapper who had four previous convictions for carrying a knife has been jailed for life as his victim’s mother demanded tougher laws and a “war on gangs.”
On Thursday Rashid Gedel, 22, was jailed for life for the murder of Sven Badzak, 22—who had been to university and planned to train as a solicitor—who was stabbed to death on Feb. 6, 2021 by a gang from the South Kilburn estate in northwest London, who were seeking to target rival youths.
Mr. Badzak’s mother, Jasna Badzak, said: “Gedel had four convictions for carrying a knife. His last conviction was in March 2020 but he was back on the streets by February. What kind of conviction is that? It’s just a joke.”
Gedel and Ambersley, 23, were both jailed for life with minimum terms of 27 years and the judge, Mr. Justice Dodd, said Gedel was someone who “habitually armed with a knife.”
A third gang member, Harvey Canavan, 19, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for manslaughter.
‘No Mercy’
He also told them, “You showed Sven Badzak and his friend no mercy and can expect no mercy from this court today.”
Mother Calls for ‘War on Gangs’
Ms. Badzak—who used to campaign for the Conservative Party but became ill following her son’s murder—told The Epoch Times: “Everything has to change drastically. There has to be a war on gangs.”She said, “I will be demanding Sven’s Law where every scumbag caught with a knife should get mandatory sentence of 20 years in jail.”
Ms. Badzak, who grew up in what was then Yugoslavia, said: “Knives are weapons used to attack. It’s not a defensive weapon. If you knew your child was going to jail for 20 years would you let them hang out with a gang? Parents have to be pushed to understand the real consequences of carrying a knife.”
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard, KC told the jury Mr. Badzak and his 16-year-old friend Bobby were walking back from a Waitrose where they had some bagels for a snack.
He said, “As they walked back, Badzak’s friend was watching a football game on his phone.”
Mr. Orchard said they were walking along “minding their own business” and were unaware they had been targeted by the gang, who attacked from behind.
Mr. Gedel and Mr. Ambersley were convicted of murder while Mr. Canavan admitted manslaughter at the start of the trial. A fourth suspect, Lior Agbayan, has fled abroad and is now wanted for extradition.
In a song called “Out Till Late”—which is still up on YouTube—Broadayyay and Shodyest both waxed lyrical about knife crime.
Shodyest raps: “What’s it like getting chinged [knifed] and watching your friends just turn from the scene? I don’t talk too much, just rise my ching, ching. Swing my blade, cause havoc.”
Drill ‘Inspires Hatred and Killing’
Ms. Badzak said: “The police should crack down on drill music. It just inspires hatred and killing from the people listening to it. It glorifies violence and promotes people like Gedel.”She said YouTube had given him a platform through drill music.
“That’s how he recruited other scumbags like Ambersley, Agbayan, and Canavan,” Ms. Badzak added.
Although it was not mentioned at Mr. Gedel’s trial, The Epoch Times is aware of a photograph of Mr. Badzak with a rapper, Ratlin, which was posted on the rapper’s Instagram page shortly after Mr. Badzak was killed.
The rapper wrote: “RIP to the kid who died. I don’t know him but he was a fan of my music so bless his fam[ily] through these hard times.”
Ratlin—real name Meckeal Pond—was acquitted of attempted murder in an unrelated case last month.
But Ms. Badzak explained: “Sven was always very musical. He played the violin at the age of 2. So he went to Notting Hill Carnival and he met this rapper and had his photo taken with him. He said he'd told me he had talent. He showed me the photo and I told him he was a criminal. Sven deleted the photo immediately. He didn’t want anything to do with gangs. He was quite naive.”
Bobby’s mother gave a victim impact statement to the court in which she recounted the shock of being told of the stabbing and arriving at the hospital to be told by doctors that her son’s life was in the balance.
She said: “The nurse took me to a private room and said my son was stabbed in the left side of his back, had a cardiac arrest in the ambulance, and they were doing everything they could to save him.”
Bobby had open heart surgery and she was told his chances of survival were as low as 2 percent.
Bobby survived but suffered life-changing injuries and his mother told the court: “He is suffering mentally with PTSD, night terrors, flashbacks, and has withdrawn completely socially.”
In a statement sent by email to The Epoch Times, a YouTube spokesperson said: “At YouTube we are deeply committed to helping music of all genres grow and thrive. While YouTube is a platform for free and creative expression, we strictly prohibit videos that are abusive or that promote violence.”
“We work closely with organisations like the Metropolitan Police (and other local police forces) to understand local context. We’re committed to continuing and improving our work on this issue to make sure YouTube is not a place for those who seek to do harm.”
