Teen hacked accountant, 26, to demise after he ‘pestered 16-year-old woman for intercourse’

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Emmanuel Avogo, then 16 at the time of the crime, was jailed for life with a minimum 20 years after murdering accountant Adam Khan, 26, in a machete street ambush

A teenager who routinely carried a blade has been caged for life after slaying an accountant in a machete street attack.

Emmanuel Avogo, then 16, devised a scheme with a 16-year-old girl to “entice” Adam Khan, 26, to a rendezvous in Humberstone Road, Luton, on August 31 last year. When Mr Khan arrived at the meeting, Avogo, who is now 17, pursued him before producing a machete from his trousers which he used to hack Mr Khan to death.

Harrow Crown Court was told Avogo routinely carried a blade and had a catalogue of previous incidents involving violence and knives. On Monday, he was sentenced by Mr Justice Bennathan to life with a minimum term of 20 years, after being found guilty at trial of murder.

The girl – who cannot be named – was handed a two-year detention and training order after she was convicted at trial of manslaughter.

The judge said Mr Khan had been “pestering” the girl for sex and agreed to provide her with some cannabis, she planned with Avogo to set him up to be attacked, but she did not know he would be armed with the machete.

“By August 31 he had offered to got you some cannabis for some form of sexual favour, and most people would agree this was very wrong”, he said. “It would have serve him right if you two had taken the drugs and run off, but he had done nothing to deserve the terrible violence done to him that day.”

The killers were branded “pure evil” and told to “rot in hell” by Mr Khan’s sister on Monday, as the court heard how the victim had been set for a promising career as an accountant when his life was cut short.

Before delivering sentence, the judge removed Avogo’s anonymity as a youth defendant, following a Press Association application to name him as a warning against the plague of knife crime.

Highlighting his knife crime history, the judge said Avogo remains “still in denial” about the murder, “suggesting any hope of reform and rehabilitation is a very distant prospect”. “He frequently carried a knife or machete around the time of the offence,” he added.

“The seriousness of the offence of which he was convicted and the widespread publicity and concern surrounding young people and knife crime militate in favour of allowing this case to be examined by the press and discussed by the public.”

Prosecutor Kate Bex KC said Mr Khan fell victim to an “ambush”, after he had exchanged phone messages with the girl in the lead up to the fateful meeting.

“Both defendants had developed a plan to lure Mr Khan to the scene, and following a confrontation he was then attacked by Mr Avogo”, she said. “He was attacked using a machete Mr Avogo had stored at his home address, and had been concealed down his trousers.”

CCTV footage of the incident shows Mr Khan approaching a car and speaking to the girl through the window, before Avogo emerges. Mr Khan initially retreated and drove a short distance away with the boy in pursuit, but then halted his vehicle, retrieved a tyre wrench from the boot, and confronted Avogo.

He was stabbed five times – in the face, stomach and arm – in the ensuing brawl, and succumbed to his injuries later that evening in hospital. Mr Khan’s mother, whose identity was not disclosed in court, shared that her son had begun working at 15 following his father’s death to support his family, describing him as “bright, strong, resilient and caring”.

She expressed her hope for the teenage killers: “I hope they meet a fate far worse than what they inflicted on my son.” In her victim impact statement, Mr Khan’s sister revealed that her brother was murdered just a day before he was set to sit his final accountancy qualification exam, having secured a position within a leading financial firm.

“He had so much to look forward to, but that was brutally snatched from him,” she lamented. She labelled the teenage killers as possessing “pure evil inside of them”, and stated: “My brother’s death will hover over our heads and leave a hole in our hearts for the rest of our lives.”

She added: “I pray the harshest of justice is served to the inhumane people who committed this crime. May they rot in hell.”

During the trial, it came to light that Avogo was a habitual knife carrier and four months prior to murdering Mr Khan, he had been given a reprieve from jail after stabbing a man with a machete during an e-bike robbery.

In 2023, when he was 14, he received a police caution after attempting to shove another boy into the road and striking him in the face, the court was told.

Later that same year, he was issued a second police caution following an attack on two fellow school pupils, repeatedly hitting one in the face and flooring a second when he attempted to step in.

Avogo assaulted a police officer in January 2024, and he was found carrying a lock knife in August that year, when aged 15.

The e-bike robbery occurred in March 2025, when he pretended to be a purchaser responding to a Facebook marketplace advertisement and attempted to cycle away with the bike during the arranged meeting in Aylesbury.

When the seller prevented his escape, Avogo drew a 67cm-long machete from his trousers and left the victim with hand and leg wounds.

He admitted guilt at Milton Keynes Youth Court to attempted robbery, possession of an offensive weapon, and unlawful wounding, and was given a youth rehabilitation order with a night-time curfew.

Avogo had been struck over the head with a hammer in October 2023, requiring brain surgery, and he stated during the trial that PTSD influenced his reaction to the confrontation with Mr Khan.

Mr Justice Bennathan observed that the boy continues to maintain his innocence regarding Mr Khan’s death, claiming he had not intended to cause him serious harm.

Following the stabbing, the girl searched online for “Luton stabbing” and looked into how to delete an Instagram account. Both defendants waved to their relatives as they were escorted from the dock.

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