A teenage weapons dealer was knifed to death and dumped in a canal while meeting up with other teens to sell them a crossbow, a court heard.
Victor Lee, 17, was pulled out of the Grand Union Canal by two houseboat residents, but he died shortly after as he lay bleeding to death on the towpath in June last year. Lee was found to have been stabbed with at least two knives to the chest and back "in broad daylight" by the canal side in Wormwood Scrubs Park, west London.
Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18, along with a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old who cannot be identified due to their ages, deny murder and robbery.
Months prior to the killing, Mr Lee had been buying knives online to sell them on to other teenagers. His mother described him as 'aspirational' and said he 'wanted to make money', previously having made money selling bicycles, the court heard. He had met the defendants earlier on June 25 and sold them a crossbow, but they later asked him to meet again to sell them some knives, jurors were told.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, KC, said the alleged killers fled with Lee's bike and the rucksack containing the knives after the attack.
He said they arrived at the scene on two bikes with one riding on the handlebars. Mr Aylett said: "Victor Lee was just 17-years-old when he was murdered last summer, in broad daylight on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal, near Wormwood Scrubs Park in West London. Victor was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest before, for good measure, being pushed into the canal.
"Two men living on houseboats on the other side of the canal were able to haul Victor onto the bank but, within minutes, he had bled to death. In the months before his murder, Victor Lee had started buying knives and even a crossbow on the internet. He had been selling them for profit."
A few hours before the alleged killing, Lee had met up with the defendants to sell them a crossbow, the court heard. Later in the afternoon, the 14-year-old asked if they could buy any knives. Lee then sent a photo of three knives and five knife boxes, the court heard.
Aylett continued: "Just after 5.30pm, the three defendants, on two bicycles returned to the towpath. They waited a few minutes for Victor to arrive, also on a bicycle. Save for the defendants themselves, there are no eye-witnesses to the murder of Victor Lee. One witness did see the tallest of the three boys, Elijah Gokool-Mely, pushing Victor into the canal but, but by that time, Victor must already have been stabbed three times.
"Nobody heard anything either. The first thing that either of the two men on their houseboats heard was the sound of a splash as Victor hit the water. I suppose you might say that Victor Lee had been playing a dangerous game.
"On the other hand, you may think, he would not have expected to be murdered by his own customers, to whom, after all, and albeit in a rather warped way, he had been providing a service.
"The three defendants then took Victor's rucksack, they also stole his bicycle. Having helped themselves to Victor's possessions, the three defendants made off on bicycles. They returned home to their respective homes. When they met up again later, they had all changed their clothes."
In the days after the killing, Gokool-Mely and the 14-year-old unplaited their hair, while the 16-year-old stopped using Snapchat, the court heard. Lee lived with his father in Old Oak Common in north west London.
Gokool-Mely, of White City Estate, Shepards Bush, and the two teenagers deny murder and robbery. The trial continues.