Drug dealer who killed customer gets 12-year term

A drug dealer convicted of killing a customer after an early-hours cocaine sale went wrong has been given a 12-year jail sentence.

Patrice Che, 26, died in hospital after being stabbed in the abdomen with a kitchen knife at a house in Brereton Road in Bedford in November 2024.

Tyreese Kamau, 25, of Rutland Road, Bedford, claimed he was under threat and acted in self-defence.

Jurors found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter after a trial at Luton Crown Court.

Kamau had previous convictions for drug dealing offences and possessing offensive weapons.

"You do present a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public," said the judge, Mr Justice Swift.

However, Mr Justice Swift said he was starting to take "responsibility for your actions". Kamau must serve at least eight years in prison before parole is considered.

Jurors heard that Mr Che, who was born in Cameroon and lived in Bedford, met Kamau in the early hours of 5 November in a street and wanted cocaine.

But barrister Neil Moore, who led the prosecution team, said Kamau had feared a "set up" and "got aggressive".

He said evidence showed that Kamau attacked Mr Che with a knife and scissors. Mr Che died after suffering a 13cm (5in) wound.

The prosecution said Kamau behaved with "jaw-dropping calmness" after the attack.

He posed with the blood-stained knife and took a "trophy" photograph of himself, they said.

Although Kamau said he took the photograph with the intention of showing it to police.

Jurors were told officers found the knife, which was 4cm-wide (1.6in) and 18cm-long (7.1in), after Kamau threw it down a rubbish chute.

Kamau told jurors that two other men were with Mr Che and that he decided to leave the property because the situation became "dodgy".

He said Mr Che was holding scissors and stood in his way.

Kamau said he was "terrified" and picked up a knife from the kitchen.

"I am just trying not to get stabbed, not get injured," he told jurors. "In that process, I have lunged."

He said Mr Che "started coming at me swinging" and told jurors: "I swung once with the kitchen knife. I didn't want to stab him."

In a victim impact statement read at the sentencing hearing, Mr Che's family explained how he moved to the UK to study computer science at the University of Westminster.

"There is nothing to fill the void," said their statement.

"Not even the harshest sentence will bring Patrice back."

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