Teenage killer is caught out after his ‘thoughtless act’ at crime scene

Ali Abdul Basit had evaded justice after fleeing to Venice, then Dubai and then Egypt, after stabbing Michael Afonso-Peixoto to death in Thornton Heath, south London

A teenager who stabbed a man to death was snagged after throwing a cigarette butt from a car window at the scene.

This had Ali Abdul Basit’s DNA on, and detectives were eventually able to trace the teen and arrest him in connection with Michael Afonso-Peixoto’s death. Basit, though, fled to Venice, then Dubai and then Egypt in a desperate bid to dodge justice.

But the 19-year-old thug now faces jail after being convicted of manslaughter and robbery. The court had heard Basit was one of five men who waited in a car, jumping out to attack Mr Afonso-Peixoto. The 27-year-old victim had been “tricked” into thinking he was meeting someone to sell cocaine in Thornton Heath, south London.

Mr Afonso-Peixoto was being driven by his girlfriend Charley Smith and the men also robbed her car at knifepoint. However, four our of the five men were identified by DNA left on cigarette butts they discarded as they waited for the couple, the Old Bailey was told.

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Crispin Aylett, KC, prosecuting, said: “Michael had been stabbed twice in right shoulder, once on his left side, stabbed to the front of his chest and the knife entered his heart.

“The wound quickly proved fatal and he bled to death on the driveway of the house where he had collapsed. For four of the five men in the BMW those thoughtlessly discarded cigarette butts were to prove their undoing. Each had left traces of DNA on one of more of the cigarette butts.”

The fifth assailant has never been identified, My London reports. Basit was cleared of murder, but convicted of manslaughter and robbery after a three-week trial. Three other men; Zak Baako, 30, John Budal, 20, and 23-year-old Omari Peat stood trial at the Old Bailey at the end of 2024.

But Basit, Mitcham, south London, fled justice for 18 months before he was eventually arrested, upon his return at Luton Airport. While he was away, the Metropolitan Police “compiled an extensive amount of evidence, including phone data” as they investigated the death.

The court heard Mr Afonso-Peixoto’s family was of Portuguese descent and ran a business supplying electrical parts called ‘Mikes Electrix’ but also sold drugs on Snapchat as ‘Mario Deals’. He was in a relationship with Ms Smith, despite also being in a long-term relationship with the mother of his child with whom he lived.

Basit was remanded in custody ahead of sentence on May 22. Baako, who was found guilty of murder, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years in prison. Budal, who was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and robbery, was sentenced to nine years in prison while Peat was handed a four-year prison sentence.