Notting Hill Carnival zombie knife attacker jailed for 18 years

A zombie knife-wielding teenager who slashed a man at Notting Hill Carnival has been jailed for 18 years.

Rumarni Tuitt, 19, used a 12-inch knife to slice open the stomach of 18-year-old Kamani Spooner on August 26 last year.

Tuitt was caught carrying a Rambo knife which he swung out at Notting Hill Carnival the year before, although no-one was injured, the Old Bailey heard.

He was serving a community order for that offence when he attacked Mr Spooner in front of a crowd of revellers.

The defendant, from Walthamstow, east London, was found guilty of attempted murder having admitted possession of a knife.

Jailing him for 18 years on Friday, Judge Judy Khan KC said: “It is not the first time you have travelled to the carnival armed with a fearsome weapon.

“On this occasion, you used it to devastating effect. It is fortunate Mr Spooner escaped with his life.

“There can be no excuse for committing an offence of this gravity.”

The attack was in front of a “substantial number” of people and lunging out with a knife in a crowded public place put others at risk of being injured, she said.

Previously, prosecutor Mark Paltenghi had said the two young men did not know each other before their paths crossed in Canal Way, west London, just before 8pm.

During the attack, Tuitt had “sliced open Mr Spooner’s stomach with a 12-inch zombie knife” and then stabbed him four more times in the side and back and cut his right forearm.

Mr Spooner told police he spent much of the day at the carnival drinking with his friends.

Towards the end of the day, a fight broke out around him with three people close by throwing punches, according to his account.

Mr Paltenghi had said: “He then recalls being hit in the back and upon looking at his arm, saw it had been cut, then looked down and saw that his intestines were hanging out.

“He put his hand over them and just ran.

“He cannot cast any light on why it was he would have been attacked.”

Tuitt claimed that he was acting in self defence and jurors were told there was no evidence he harboured a grievance against Mr Spooner.

In mitigation, Sheryl Nwosu said the defendant’s young age, immaturity and neurodivergeance had affected his actions.

He had displayed “impulsive and reckless” decision making by choosing to attend Notting Hill Carnival armed with a weapon out of a “perceived need for self protection”, Ms Nwosu said.

As Tuitt was being sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, a woman in the public gallery broke down in tears.