Four jailed for life for Bedford teen killing

21 May 2019, 18:49 | Updated: 21 May 2019, 18:55

A man and three teenage boys have been given life sentences for the murder of a 16 year-old boy in Bedford.

Cemeren Yilmaz, 16, from Harrold, suffered multiple fatal injuries during a brutal attack in Ashmead Road, Bedford, in September.

Part of the incident was even filmed on Snapchat.

The judge also lifted the reporting restrictions in the case, allowing those under 18 to be identified.

Aaron Miller, 20, of Tavistock Street, Bedford; Caleb Brown, 16, of Shadwell Drive, Northolt; Jacob Morgan, 15, of Winchester Road, Bedford, and Ramon Djuana, 15, of Stanley Street, Bedford, were all found guilty at St Albans Crown Court in an earlier trial.

Today at the same court, all four were given life sentences. Miller will serve a minimum of 21 years; Brown and Djuana were sentenced to a minimum of 17 years each, while Morgan will serve a minimum of 16 years.

Cemeren, known as Cem, was visiting friends in the area on Sunday, 16 September, when the events unfolded.

He had perceived links to the Mile Road gang, a rival of Black Tom.

CCTV in the area captured an incident at around 9pm where Morgan was among a group of youths standing by a motorbike, who were chased by Cemeren and his friends.

Cemeren was then seen to emerge clutching a bag, which the prosecution argued was stolen from the group. It is believed that this incident triggered the defendants to exact revenge on him.

Shortly after 10pm, Miller was dropped off in Ashmead Road. At around the same time, Cemeren and one of his friends left a house in the area to meet up with two other friends in Ashmead Road.

Soon after this, Miller and Cemeren got involved in a fight. Morgan then joined in and also began attacking Cemeren.

During this fight, Cemeren ended up on the floor. As both Miller and Morgan attacked him on the ground, Cemeren suffered a serious stab wound.

Cemeren used a knife to inflict stab wounds on Miller during this part of the attack.

Despite his significant injuries, Cemeren was able to get to his feet and try to escape. Witnesses also recalled him shouting “lowe it” to his attackers, which is slang urging them to calm down.

As one of Cemeren’s friends phoned an ambulance for help, Brown and Djuana then arrived in the area and continued the attack.

They kicked and punched Cemeren as he lay dying on the ground, while Cemeren was also hit over the head with a hammer. Brown filmed this part of the incident on Snapchat with his mobile phone.

The 999 call matches some of the audio from the Snapchat video, including Djuana shouting “give us the hammer”. Djuana and Brown fled the scene before the ambulance arrived.

Cemeren suffered around 50 separate injuries during the attack.

Cemeren died in hospital at around 9.15am on Monday, 17 September.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Branston, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, led the investigation said:

“This was one of the most brutal attacks I have seen in 25 years in policing. The fact those involved were mostly children makes it even more shocking.

All four attacked Cemeren as he lay helpless on the ground. The sheer volume of injuries is appalling, but the force with which some of these blows were inflicted is nothing less than savage.

This is violence of the worst degree and has no place on the streets of Bedfordshire.

Those responsible for this cowardly attack deserve to be spending such a significant time in prison. I hope these sentences go some way to securing justice and closure for Cemeren and his family.”