Man convicted of Great Yarmouth murder

 

 

Junior Suleimane 

A Great Yarmouth man has been convicted of murdering a man in his 20s by stabbing him in the chest in the street.

Junior Suleimane, 21, of Market Place, appeared at Norwich Crown Court today (6 August 2024) for murder, he had previously pleaded guilty for possession of a bladed article. Jaimes Santos, 44, of Nelson Road south and Vitor Silva, 22 of Crossway Terrace, Loddon, had previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

Reaching a decision, the jury took seven hours to reach a verdict.

The court heard police were called on Wednesday 8 February 2023 at 12.43pm when a member of the public called 999 reporting that Felizardo Jose Vieira Balde, 23, was spitting blood from his nose and mouth and though breathing, he was lying unconscious in an alleyway off Wellington Road in Great Yarmouth. She then saw he had been stabbed and a murder investigation was launched with a Home Office post-mortem examination finding the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest.

The court heard how enquiries revealed that the incident took place outside of Coral bookmakers on the junction of St Peter’s Road and Wellington Road in Great Yarmouth.

Witnesses provided statements and CCTV was recovered capturing the murder. Footage shows Suleimane entering a store prior to the stabbing, having arrived on a small electric bicycle in the company of another male. The second man was later identified as his uncle, Jaimes Antonia Santos and is clearly seen on CCTV.

Both Suleimane and Santos fled the scene. Later, CCTV shows Suleimane and Santos appearing to have changed their clothing to evade police detection as they leave a complex of flats at Caesar’s Palace around 2pm. Suleimane is seen to carry a blue bag in his right hand, and Santos is carrying a black bin liner with unknown contents.

Suleimane and Santos were tracked across the country, initially fleeing to Loddon where an associate Vitor Silva helped them travel to an address in Cambridge. They were arrested by West Yorkshire Police on a bus at Leeds City Bus Station. The police investigation had tracked them to this location and West Yorkshire Police had been passed relevant details to make the arrests.

Norfolk Police's Detective Inspector Dave McCormack, who led the murder investigation, said: “Suleimane arrived at the scene of the crime prepared to commit the most serious act of violence. Felizardo was a young man with a bright future loved by his family and community. My deepest condolences go to his family and friends for their loss.

“Suleimane and his uncle aided by a friend moved across the country intent on evading capture in full knowledge of the crime they had committed. Fast paced police enquiries identified their location at several points in several counties. Investigators worked with specialist officers in several police authorities providing extremely short notice to respond, until they were eventually apprehended on a bus intent on travelling to the north of the country.”

All three are due to be sentenced at a date yet to be confirmed.