Great Yarmouth killer gets life for revenge murder

Junior Suleimane had just brought some cigarettes from a shop on St Peter's Street, just off Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile, when he spotted Felizardo Jose Vieira-Balde walking past.

Police at the scene of fatal stabbing and Felizardo Jose Vieira-Balde (inset) (Image: Newsquest) He crossed the road before pulling out a large zombie knife from his backpack and stabbed his victim - who he said had knifed him a month earlier - in the chest.

Mr Vieira-Balde, 23, died in a nearby alleyway after staggering away with “unsurvivable injuries” following the attack shortly before 1pm on February 8 last year.

Felizardo Jose Vieira-Balde (Image: Supplied) Suleimane appeared for sentencing at Norwich Crown Court on Friday having been found guilty of murder by a jury following a two-week trial in August.

Junior Suleimane (Image: Norfolk Constabulary) Imposing a life sentence with a minimum term of 23 years, Judge Alice Robinson said although it had been a chance encounter she was convinced he had stabbed the victim "in revenge" and "to teach him a lesson for the previous attack on you".

She said he could easily have ridden off on his scooter and "avoided any confrontation at all but you chose to attack him".

Suleimane, who wore a grey tracksuit in the dock, had previously admitted having an article with a blade of point.

Appearing alongside Suleimane were Jaimes Santos - Suleimane's uncle - and Vitor Silva who both admitted assisting an offender.

Before Suleimane was sentenced the court heard statements from relatives of Mr Vieira-Balde, including his mother Luisa who described the impact of the loss of her "beloved son". 

Police at the murder scene (Image: Newsquest) She said "nothing could've prepared us for this and something I could never have imagined"

"Having my son taken from us has been devastating."

She said she felt "so lost" as her son was "loved so much".

Polce at the scene of the fatal attack (Image: Newsquest) Meanwhile, his sister Naisa said he was loved so much by her and her siblings and "missed so much every  day".

She sad the sense of loss she and her family felt was "unimaginable" and with the case coming back to court they have had to "relive what happened" which has been "particularly hard".

She said he will "forever remain in our hearts and we will never forget him".

Polce at the scene following fatal stabbing (Image: Newsquest) The trial had been told there had been animosity between the pair following an incident five months earlier, when Suleimane threw Mr Vieira-Balde and another man out of a party he was hosting in the town, because they were having a row.

Four months after that Mr Vieira-Balde attacked Suleimane and stabbed him when they bumped into each other at another property in Yarmouth.

Weeks later, their feud came to a deadly end on the streets of the town.

CCTV images of the fatal attack (Image: Supplied) Will Carter, prosecuting, said having been found guilty of murder there “has to be a life sentence” for Suleimane, formerly of Market Place, Yarmouth

He said the only issue was the minimum term which Mr Carter said should be 25 years as Suleimane had “taken a knife to the scene intending to have it available to use as a weapon”.

Police at scene of fatal attack (Image: Newsquest) Mr Carter said the two co-defendants, Santos, 45, and Silva, 23, had to be sentenced for assisting Suleimane after the murder".

Mr Carter said Santos was present when Suleimane murdered Mr Vieira-Balde and had been a "matter of feet away".

He said: "It must have been immediately obvious to Mr Santos what had happened but none the less he immediately assisted Suleimane flee the scene of the murder to avoid being arrested."

Mr Carter said the pair "needed to get away" and the taxi which they used to get out of Yarmouth to Loddon was "arranged by Silva"

Santos, of Nelson Road South, Yarmouth, had been "intimately involved in assisting Suleimane". He was jailed for 31 months.

Silva, of Crossway Terrace, Loddon, who had assisted the others in "allowing them to leave the area quickly" was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

During the trial, jurors were shown CCTV footage of Suleimane leaving the Londis store on the road after buying cigarettes and seeing Mr Vieira-Balde walking past.

The graphic footage showed him removing a large knife from a backpack and walking towards Mr Vieira-Balde before striking him and then leaving on his scooter.

Mr Vieira-Balde staggering away after being stabbed (Image: Supplied) Mr Vieira-Balde, a factory worker who was living at the Elstow Hotel off Stanley Terrace, died in a nearby alleyway. 

Simon Spence KC, for Suleimane, said it had been a "chance encounter" between the pair with a "lack of premeditation" which there would have been had it been a revenge attack.

Mr Spence said it had been a "single blow" with no attempt at a second blow or pursue him bur he "simply turned and departed".

Adam Pearson, for Santos, said the defendant should be given "the appropriate credit" for his plea to the offence which he committed while acting "out of fear and panic".

Andrew Oliver, for Silva, said he deserved some credit for his plea made after accepting he made a "foolish decision to get involved" but insisted he was a vulnerable young man.