‘The day he died, I died too’: Jobari Gooden’s killer guilty of manslaughter

A mother has told of the devastation her family has endured after her son was stabbed to death.

Jobari Gooden, 27, was killed following a fight outside a barber’s shop in Choumert Road, Peckham on December 17, 2021.

His killer, Momodou Lamin Faal, 28, of Lyndhurst Way, Peckham, was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday.

Jobari’s mother, Shawna Manboard, said: “My son, Jobari, was taken from me in the most brutal way. His life was taken in a place that he thought he was safe.

“We have still been given no reason as to why his life was totally destroyed and taken so senselessly. This nightmare has not ended.

“This has been incredibly painful, listening to the defendant blame my son for his own death. He has continued to show a blatant disrespect to his memory and our family.

“The damage that has been done has not only been to Jobari. Mine and our family’s lives will never be the same again.

“The day he died I died too, and without him my life will be empty.”

Jabari was found with stab injuries by emergency services at around 3.15pm and taken to a South London hospital in a critical condition where he died hours later.

CCTV enquiries which revealed Jobari had passed Faal at around 2.50pm at the junction with Rye Lane and Hanover Park.

Jobari then went into McDonald’s in Rye Lane with his girlfriend, before leaving a few minutes later and encountering Faal again.

A fight broke out and Faal stabbed Jobari “a number of times” before chasing him down Rye Lane. Jobari was able to run for some distance before he eventually collapsed.

Faal then rode away on a bicycle given to him by an acquaintance.

In the days following the stabbing, Faal moved to a number of different addresses. He obtained a passport in the name of Omar Barrow and a one-way plane ticket from Manchester Airport to The Gambia.

On December 23 police used a search warrant to enter an address in Gillingham, where Faal was found.

He had changed his appearance since killing Jobari, cutting off his dreadlocks so his hair was short, and when arrested he claimed that his name was Omar Barrow.

Detectives uncovered that Faal had worn wigs and dressed as a woman to disguise his identity as he had moved around.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie said: “Faal claimed to have been acting in self-defence but was plainly the aggressor. He repeatedly stabbed Jobari in a frenzied attack in full view of horrified members of the public, who were shopping in the local market.

“This was senseless loss of a young man’s life which has torn his family apart.”

Faal will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on September 16.

Pictured top: Victim Jobari Gooden (Picture: Metropolitan Police)