How remorseless and arrogant Jake Fahri provoked outrage with his behaviour during his trial for Jimmy Mizen’s murder

THE Old Bailey has played host to the trials of Britain’s most notorious killers, terrorists, rapists and spies during its 350-year history.

But it is unlikely any criminal more arrogant than Jake Fahri has gripped the rail at the Central Criminal Court.

Nicholas RazzellArrogant thug Jake Fahri at a magistrates’ court appearance in 2008[/caption]

CollectJimmy Mizen was murdered when he was just 16 years old[/caption]

CollectJimmy, right, with brother Tommy[/caption]

Remorseless Fahri provoked outrage with his behaviour during his 2009 trial for the murder of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen.

The cocky killer, then 19, flirted with a young female juror and also tried to portray himself as the victim — claiming he had killed Jimmy in self-defence.

Swaggering Fahri’s arrogant demeanour was in contrast to the Mizen family, who rose above his antics as they watched him spouting a tissue of lies and insulting Jimmy’s memory.

Short-tempered Fahri had a history of violence and was a timebomb waiting to explode when he murdered gentle giant Jimmy.

He had history with the Mizen family, having mugged Jimmy’s older brother Harry twice.

The first time was in 2001 when Fahri, then 11, walked up to Harry, ten, and demanded money.

Harry handed over 20p before Fahri punched him in the stomach.

Harry’s mother Margaret made a complaint to Fahri’s school, which left him carrying a grudge against the family of eight children.

Two years later Fahri beat up Harry in the street and the upstanding Mizen family again complained.

Police visited Fahri at home on that occasion and gave him a harassment warning.

It was the start of a continuing pattern of offending which the law failed to deal with before he murdered Jimmy.

Fahri, the son of a Turkish Cypriot heating engineer father and English mother, had been raised with his sister in a comfortable house in Lee, South East London.

But during adolescence he went off the rails and drifted into a world of smoking drugs and rap music, using the street name Detz.

He was expelled from Crown Woods school in Eltham, South East London, at 15 for bullying.

Fahri then forged a reputation for violence, including attacking women, and is suspected of selling drugs.

He idolised rapper Tupac Shakur, who promoted a “thug life”, and recorded his own CD called Dirty Money Vol 1, which included a track titled If Only U Knew — about how his mother had no clue about his criminal lifestyle.

At the age of 16, Fahri beat up a girl, kicking and punching her.

He was convicted of common assault and got a supervision order.

Times Newspapers LtdForensics team at the scene of the murder in South London[/caption]

Metropolitan PoliceFahri took a 12in glass dish and threw it at Jimmy and the dish shattered, piercing his neck and severing major blood vessels[/caption]

In 2004 he was part of a gang that robbed a schoolboy at knifepoint and was handed another supervision order. The following year he and another youth robbed an adult in a park.

And, more seriously, in 2007 he was arrested and charged with the rape of a girl of 13.

That was dropped when the complainant decided not to give evidence.

The inevitable finally happened when Fahri went into the Three Cooks Bakery in Burnt Ash Hill, South East London, at 11.30am on the morning of Saturday, May 10, 2008 to buy a chicken sandwich.

Fahri, 5ft 7in, spotted his old bullying target Harry, who was with 6ft 4in Jimmy buying sausage rolls, and he began threatening the brothers.

Jimmy stood up to Fahri, who challenged him to go outside. Fahri threw two plastic bottles at Jimmy and punches were thrown, with the brothers and their attacker crashing into a cake display.

The thug then left the shop and returned with a metal-framed ad board which he poked at Jimmy.

When Jimmy grabbed the sign and held on, Fahri took a 12in glass dish of sausages from the counter.

He threw it at Jimmy and the dish shattered, piercing his neck and severing major blood vessels.

Jimmy managed to stagger to a storeroom cupboard where Harry cradled him as he lay dying.

Their mother was called to the shop and fainted as she saw her son bleeding to death.

Bleeding to death

Dad Barry arrived an hour later to find that Jimmy had died.
Fahri, meanwhile, had fled the shop in triumph.

Passer-by Tara Gaynor told the Old Bailey: “When he ran past me, he had a big grin on his face. It was disturbing.”

Fahri was arrested three days later and wept as he told police: “I didn’t mean to kill him.”

It didn’t take long for Fahri to return to character as he smiled and waved at his girlfriend during his first court appearance before Sutton JPs.

In March the following year he was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 14 years after being convicted of Jimmy’s murder.

Applause swept the public gallery as the jury returned their verdict.

When he ran past me, he had a big grin on his face. It was disturbing.

Passer-by Tara Gaynor

As he was led away Fahri told his mother “I love you”, while she implored him to “stay strong”.

On the steps of the court Jimmy’s family refused to show anger.
Instead, they spoke of their sorrow at Britain becoming a country of “selfishness, anger and fear”.

But Fahri does not appear to have heeded their words. Eight months after being caged he was stabbed four times in the back with a pair of tweezers.

The attack, at Moorland Young Offenders Institution near Doncaster, South Yorks, was carried out by Sean Mercer, who shot dead 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool in 2007.

Fahri was probed by police while behind bars over a sex assault on a prison nurse as she took a blood sample at Long Lartin jail, Worcs.

The incident was not enough to prevent the Parole Board releasing him on license in May 2023.

Now he has resurrected his ambition to become a rap star.

PA:Press AssociationParents of murdered schoolboy Jimmy Mizen, Margaret and Barry, hold their MBE medals[/caption]

ReutersIn 2007, Fahri was arrested and charged with the rape of a girl of 13[/caption]

His lyrics, in which he appears to revel in murder, will not be enough to earn him a recall to prison.

Ex-Met Chief Supt Simon Ovens said: “The Home Office Serious Violence strategy states that drill rap lyrics can promote violence.

“There have been numerous court cases in which such lyrics have featured. You would expect law enforcement to monitor Fahri’s lyrics and deal with him if there is any evidence of inciting violence.

“However, songs can be used to insult and intimidate but are not a crime in themselves. It may be reprehensible but still falls short of being a criminal offence.”