Sven Badzak’s murderers lose appeal against sentences

Sven Badzak, 22, was stabbed to death in Kilburn High Road as he walked home from a shop with a friend on February 6, 2021. 

Rashid Gedel, of Fenman Gardens, Ilford, and Shiroh Ambersley, of Matthew Close, Wembley, were convicted of Sven’s murder as well as grievous bodily harm against Sven’s friend, then aged 16. 

Gedel and Ambersley, who are both serving life sentences with a minimum term of 27 years, went to the Court of Appeal to argue this was too long. 

One of their arguments was that the sentencing judge had been wrong to say they had intended to kill Sven. 

Sven Badzak (Image: Met Police) At their trial, the jury was told that Gedel and Ambersley walked into a bakery in Kilburn and stared at two females at the counter, before leaving without buying anything. 

Detectives believe they were actively looking for someone to attack. 

Sven and his friend were walking along the same road at the time and Gedel and Ambersley approached them from behind. 

Another man, Harvey Canavan, of Walterton Road in Maida Hill, also joined the two after walking on other side of the road. 

When they reached the victims, they were heard asking “what are you on?” before stabbing Sven in the chest and the second victim in his back. 

Sven fled a short distance before collapsing in the street, where he was reportedly punched and kicked by the defendants before dying at the scene. 

Rashid Gedel (Image: Met Police) Appeal Judge Dodd KC said “there was no lack of logic” in the trial judge’s conclusion that Gedel and Ambersley had intended to kill Sven. 

Their appeals were therefore dismissed as their sentences were not deemed manifestly excessive. 

After the pair were jailed in 2023, Detective Inspector John Marriott said: “None of the defendants have shown any remorse for their actions, with Rashid Gedel even boasting about the incident on his social media accounts in the days that followed the murder.”

Shiroh Ambersley (Image: Met Police) He added: “It’s clear the group went out that evening intent on carrying out serious violence. Armed with knives, they roamed the streets seemingly looking for victims. 

“Devastatingly, Sven and his friend became their targets in what we believe was a case of mistaken identity, as they suspected them to be members of a rival gang. They were not. They were simply two friends who were walking home after a trip to the shop.” 

Canavan pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed for seven years and six months. 

Three other men involved in the attack have not been brought to justice.