Girlfriend pays tribute to Edmonton resident Jack Barry, whose teenager killer was jailed for 11 years this week
Christopher John “Jack” Barry
A teenager has been jailed for the fatal stabbing of a man in Edmonton last year.
The 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to serve a minimum 11-year prison sentence for the murder of Christopher John “Jack” Barry, 53.
Mr Barry died from a stab wound to the chest at his home in The Broadway, near Edmonton Shopping Centre, in December 2014.
The boy pleaded guilty on 11 March.
The boy and his friends had left a 13th birthday party and had returned later but went to the wrong block of flats, the court heard.
When they were trying to access the flats they came across Mr Barry, who refused them entry, causing some “pushing and shoving” between them.
The boy followed Mr Barry into the lift and pulled a kitchen knife from his rucksack and said: “What you saying now? What you saying now?” before stabbing him twice.
The Old Bailey was told Mr Barry had not realised he had been injured and returned to his flat where he later collapsed. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The prosecution said the boy had previously been warned about handling knives and described the murder as a “cowardly and unprovoked attack” over a “trivial dispute”.
Mr Barry’s girlfriend, Sabrina Finn, who was with him at the time of the attack, said her “heart was broken” and “life would never be the same again”.
In a victim impact statement she said: “Jack saved my life last year when I had a serious medical condition which required emergency surgery. I could not do the same for him.
“Due to the nature of Jack’s death I had to leave my home. It was a home that Jack and I put a lot of time and money into for the future we thought we would have together.”