Teenager who bragged about shocking a jury with his violence in rap lyrics, sentenced to life in prison for murder

Vasilios Ofogeli - Kent Police / PA
Vasilios Ofogeli - Kent Police / PA

A drill rapper who bragged about shocking a jury with his violence in lyrics found in his cell, has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a student to death.

Vasilios Ofogeli, 17, stabbed 21-year-old Andre Bent with a large hunting knife amid violent scenes following a MoStack rap concert in Maidstone, Kent, in August last year.

Ofogeli, from Hornsey, north London, was also convicted of two counts of attempted murder, wounding with intent and violent disorder.

As he appeared to be sentenced at the Old Bailey, it emerged that Mr Bent's fiancee Maria, who found out she was pregnant on the day of the murder, saw a drill rap video on Snapchat.

In it, Ofogeli had referred to the fact one person had been killed but said it "should have been more", the court heard.

A search of his cell uncovered five pages of other rap lyrics, one of which said: "Should have seen the look on jury's face when they played that video where I cheffed (stabbed) four in a day."

Andre Bent - Kent Police / PA
Andre Bent - Kent Police / PA

Sentencing him to life with a minimum term of 20 years, Mrs Justice Cutts said posting the video on social media was an "unkind and wicked thing to do".

She told the defendant: "Mr Bent had his entire life in front of him, a life that you took.

"The devastating impact on Mr Bent's family cannot be overstated."

Following his death, Mr Bent's cousin, S Club 7 star Bradley McIntosh, called for a minute's silence when he performed on stage at the Sunshine Festival in Worcestershire.

In a victim impact statement, mother Monica McIntosh said Mr Bent, the youngest of her three children, was the "light of my life".

Addressing his killer, she said: "You snuffed out my son's life and you have left devastation behind."

The trial heard how violence erupted after Grime artist MoStack, real name Montell Daley, performed at The Gallery Nightclub in Maidstone on August 25 2019.

CCTV footage showed people who had left the club punching, kicking and hitting each other with belts.

From mobile phone video and CCTV, police established that Ofogeli had used a machete-style knife to stab three men, who survived.

Ofogeli's final victim, Mr Bent, who was unarmed, suffered a single stab wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The defendant fled to Athens hours after the murder but was arrested at Stansted when he returned to the UK on August 31 last year.

Detective Chief Inspector Patrick Milford, of Kent Police, said: "He is fully deserving of the lengthy prison sentence he will now have to serve."